


never shut us down

by togetherwecouldbealright



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Tumblr, Fluff, M/M, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/togetherwecouldbealright/pseuds/togetherwecouldbealright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr!AU. </p><p>Louis is an insecure mess and he hides behind his blog. Harry's a boy with a personality too bright and he's everything Louis thought he would hate. They end up falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	never shut us down

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Oxy, who had to be the one that tweeted how Louis would be a humor blog and Harry would be a hipster blog.
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta Nelly who never fails to make fun of me yet always compliments me and fixes all my shit. Also a thank you to Angelica who helped me when I sort of lost it and this turned into a crack fic but she stopped me. Thanks to my love Maddie who reminded me to write all the time. And of course, Mackenzie who read this over for me last minute.
> 
> There’s an excessive (and I mean excessive) use of italics and parenthesis not to mention a million run-on sentences. Also, do universities even have classes at four in the morning? Probably not, soz. Also sorry for subtle mistakes here and there, I'll look over it again later to fix any errors.
> 
> But this is basically 30k+ of Louis' feelings and well. It is what it is.

As it turns out, Louis is a bit too fond of blogging. He honestly doesn't know how it took over his life but somehow it did and now he's left staring at his Tumblr dashboard, unable to stop himself.

✿ ✿ ✿

He remembers it was just a year ago when he finally decided to give into what his sister Lottie still continues to pester him about anytime she visits him at University.

✿ ✿ ✿

Lottie looks him for the third time that day and asks, "Louis, can I borrow your laptop real quick? I just wanted to check my Tumblr inbox is all," once again, all smiles and bright eyes and really, who is he to deny his little sister anything?

So he merely hands over his laptop and later that evening when she leaves, he finds himself staring at the site lodged in his internet history.

He shrugs his shoulders and clicks on the page. He presses the button to sign up and easily fills in his information without a hitch.

When asked what he wants his URL to be, he merely pauses a moment before a grin takes up his face and he types _doncastersfinest_ because even if he’s at some huge university in London, he still loves Doncaster no matter what. And he will _always_ be their finest.

When the site loads a blue page, asking him to follow some blogs he merely skims over it, pressing follow on some of the users before he goes back to what he now knows as his dash.

He pauses before pressing on the new post sign and watching as it opens a new tab for him to type into. His fingers halt on the keys as he tries to figure out what his first post should be.

He decides not to think too much and this ends up being his first post:

_what the hell is a tumblr_

It currently has over a hundred thousand notes. He likes to pride himself on that. And it's not even his post with the most notes.

He has nearly fifty thousand followers, in his mid forties at the moment and it surprises even him sometimes because these people—all these people actually follow him and think he's funny.

Even when he posts the most random shit, like:

_did i just eat eggs on toast or was that my roommate's foot served on a platter_

And really, he doesn't think it's funny, he says it because that's what he's honestly thinking as he holds the eggs away from his face and pouts at his best friend and roommate Zayn who merely rolls his eyes because trust Louis to be such a drama queen.

But that post still gets ten thousand notes easy and it's completely outrageous and Zayn whacks him on the head when he sees it but Louis finds himself idiotically grinning at his laptop screen.

His followers are crazy and they're dedicated and they'll tell him he's the funniest and that they piss their pants reading his posts and those little messages put a smile on face and make his ego just a bit larger.

He can't answer all of them because _holy shit_ , there's so many but he tries, he really does and maybe he doesn't follow back everyone but he does his best to notice them if they want him to.

What really makes his day are the tumblrs dedicated to _him_ , as if he's what, Justin Bieber or summat because it's so ridiculous, they don't even know him but they want to make a whole blog for him.

None of them know what he looks like or hell, they don't even know what his favorite color is but they don't care because they know he's funny and they know he makes them laugh so they make tumblrs and it's absolutely crazy and Louis just really, really loves the people on Tumblr.

So when Lottie comes over a few months later it's not all that surprising that while she's scrolling through her dashboard she makes a little choked sound which is a giggle and Louis ends up asking her what's so funny.

She looks up at him, trying to stifle a smile and tells him, "There's just this really funny post on Tumblr. It says ' _so i saw a picture of cheryl cole and it seems that i can't find any coherent thoughts in my mind anymore... or clean bed sheets_ '. This guy's hilarious and I'm a fandom blog for The Wanted, so really, that's saying something." Then she shrugs like he won't get it and goes back to scrolling.

Louis sits there for a second with a hint of disgust because _really, his sister has a 'The Wanted' blog, that's just wrong_ , before staring at her with a gaping mouth until he ends up bursting into laughter, falling off the chair he was sitting on because, _what the hell even, that's his post_.

And then he's sitting up on the floor all stern, looking up at her with narrowed eyes and she's staring at him as if he's a lunatic and when he says, "You shouldn't even understand that joke! You're fourteen!" she merely rolls her eyes.

"Yeah Lou, alright," She replies and Louis sighs, knowing there's nothing he can really do. But then she says, "I wonder if the guy's fit... What do you think Lou? He's from Doncaster apparently. I've never been on his blog before but his URL is _doncastersfinest_ so," She pauses mid-sentence, shrugging, "I've seen his posts before and he always gets like a million notes, I have no idea how. Maybe he's really fit and that's why? He is funny though so if he's both in one—" and Louis is choking on his own spit before cutting her off.

"Lottie, that is _disgusting_. You—you just—you need to—give me the laptop!" He finally says, getting to his feet and sitting down next to her. She raises an eyebrow but passes the laptop over to him and he signs her out before going back to the sign in page.

He starts typing in his email address and she merely raises her eyebrows higher. "When did you make a Tumblr?"

"A few months ago, now be quiet, let me show you something," He says and she's still a bit confused, tilting her head in bewilderment.

"You're not dating _doncastersfinest_ or something, are you? Because, that'd be like majorly weird and I apologize in advance for attempting to hit on your boyfriend. And then I take it back because why was I not aware you had a boyfriend?"

"You—Lottie—just watch, okay? I'm not dating anyone," He clarifies before typing in his password and pressing log in.

She does as she's told, watching the screen as it loads the page and then suddenly Louis' dash pops up and there in the upper right corner it states his URL and he sees her staring it with wide eyes before finally.

" _Ew!_ Louis, that's _gross_! I almost _hit_ on you!" And then he's reaching over and tickling her and there's really no more conversation because him and his sister are always okay like that and that's why she insists on having their mum drive her up every few weeks to visit him.

But really, he thinks what's best about Tumblr is his ability to say whatever he wants and having people actually agree with him even when he tags it as uncommon opinion. The fact they accept him so openly.

Like even when he might out himself on Tumblr, saying ' _holy hot damn dylan o'brien can get it in any fucking day he wants especially inside me_ '.

And really, he should've thought that one through and the minute he hit post he knew he was screwed because his followers were like lightning, the way they reblog him.

He out himself to over twenty thousand people at the time and not to mention more because he always ends up on people's dashs who don't even follow him when his followers reblog him and they would all read those words and _shit_ , what did he just _do_.

And then he cringes, not wanting to hit refresh because he may have just ruined his little safe haven. But he does it anyways because Louis is a lot of things but he is _not_ a pussy.

His inbox has blown up, there are nearly fifty new messages and he feels his stomach churn uneasily. He takes a deep breath and presses the little mail icon and when he read the first message- _hey man, it was really cool of you to come out like that, funny and blunt, four for you dude, you go_ \- from some random blog his body relaxes from the stiff posture it had fallen into.

So he answers, publicly for that matter and says, ‘ _dylan o'brien is always the best way to come out ok o'brien is the way to go_ ' and he feels unnaturally better. Sure, after he does go through all his messages later in the day he does see some rude comments and he's not ashamed to say he answers one with ' _alright maybe i like dick up my ass clearly you like something up your ass too if that stick is anything to go by_ ' and it gets over five thousand likes and yes, he really does love his followers.

Then he's out and it makes him feel so much lighter and hate is nothing he hasn't dealt with in the past in real life so he takes it all in stride. Maybe once or twice he curls up and cries about it but Zayn is there with a cuppa and his arms wide open and ready to cuddle with Louis and Louis finds himself thinking he doesn't just love his followers but he really loves Zayn too because Zayn knows all of him and still loves him back.

Really though, those messages mean little to him when he gets other messages talking about how Louis inspired them to come out and how Louis' their role model and Louis' heart feels completely full in his chest with how much he loves his followers and Tumblr in general.

It's unhealthy just a bit but Louis doesn't question it because he's in too deep to get out.

Okay, so Louis' gotten this title of being the 'Sassmaster from Doncaster' and honestly, it sounds so fucking stupid and it makes him cringe because _what the hell was everyone smoking_. But it was rightfully (not really, honestly, _why_ ) earned so Louis doesn't comment on it and tries his best to ignore the phrase.

Louis is pretty audacious though- he likes to say it adds to his charm. He'll reblog things with crude comments all the time but nothing _hateful_ of course except that one time he reblogged Taylor Swift and _another_ new boy, commenting, ' _is the 'country' singer at it again does she like never stop she seriously needs an intervention asap_ ' and okay, it was a bit rude and he had 'Swifties' coming at him for days.

And it's embarrassing because he definitely has the _Red_ CD under his bed somewhere and he sings _I Knew You Were Trouble_ in the shower but _pft_ , he's okay with just Zayn knowing that. He doesn't know why he suddenly felt spiteful- maybe she tried to date his boyfriend in some alternate universe, he really doesn't know- but it happened and really, it is what it is.

So it's not surprising when it's his brash remarks that land him in a Tumblr war between hipsters and everyone else. Not surprising at all.

It's even less surprising he's the one that starts it.

✿ ✿ ✿

It starts off just like any other Tuesday.

"Louis, how can you be tired already—we just got out! You need to get some sunlight mate," Zayn insists and it sounds like a complaint as he lugs Louis along and Louis just makes a pitiful groaning noise in return. It’s September and the sun is shining but Louis isn’t.

Zayn rolls his eyes and Louis pouts at him, because really _why does he have to go out_ , he's fine sitting at home on his laptop eating ice cream from a bowl. He's a bit of a teenage girl inside but you know what, he spends enough time on the internet to know he's not the only male who's a bit of a teenage girl. It's like a _thing_ now.

"There's a reason I take night classes Zayn, I don't _want_ to be out in the sunlight," Louis finally says after they're out of their dorm building. He glances longingly behind him but doesn't stop following Zayn because he's too good of a best friend. (Also, his tan is fading somewhat and that can’t be healthy. The internet in general can’t be healthy.)

"I take night classes too Lou, shut up," Zayn replies with a snort and Louis makes a whiny noise in the back of his throat.

"Where are we even going?" He finally asks, wondering what exactly is _so_ important. He’s sure Zayn told him but being honest, he probably wasn’t even listening.

"I told you already," Zayn accuses and Louis mimics along at the exact time, knowing the tan boy like the back of his hand.

"Prat," Zayn mutters and Louis grins. "There's this new coffee shop and I want to know if the coffee is shit or not and knowing you, you'd probably end up going there tonight and then bother _me_ for not telling you how shit the coffee is or how amazing it is."

Louis considers this for a moment before he finds himself grimacing in agreement. "Lead the way," He says dramatically—he is a drama student after all, he has to live up to his name and Zayn just shakes his head in fond disdain.

Louis' actually pretty popular—given the amount the amount of time he spends on the laptop it's really weird—so on their way there, he has to reciprocate too many smiles and waves and really, he _hates_ of all of them (okay, maybe not hate—it's a Tumblr thing, he's convinced, the act of hating everyone without even knowing them) but he does it anyways because at the same he doesn't really hate them. He's always been the life of the party and apparently that doesn't change on the internet.

So when he gets to the coffee shop, he's a bit wary at the line standing in front of him which is _huge_ leading all the way down the block. He doesn't understand what the big deal is, honestly and he's about to tell Zayn that they can come back in an hour but then he turns around he sees how excited Zayn looks and it's a bit odd to be honest.

Hence Louis being the lazy shit he is, flips around and looks for someone that both he and Zayn know and when he does see someone near the front he grabs Zayn and pulls him up.

"Niall, pleasure seeing you here," Louis greets with a grin and the blond boy turns around, spotting Louis and shooting him a grin. Louis thinks it’s just his luck that it’s one of their best friends.

"Louis! Hey, come on up here!" He motions for them to stand in front of him and Louis waggles his eyebrows at Zayn and walks closer towards Niall.

"What's the big hype with this place?" He finally asks, wedged between Niall and Zayn as the line moves along at a slow pace.

"Apparently the coffee is _heavenly_ and I'm sure Zayn here is more than elated because of the barista," Niall says with a teasing tilt to his voice and Louis literally _whirls_ around.

" _No_ ," Louis pauses and looks back and forth before, _"No way_ , do not tell me, is it _Liam_?" Louis asks in disbelief and his eyes are lighting up with a grin. Zayn shoots him a glare and Louis lets out a whoop because _hell yeah fucking right it is_. He just hit the jackpot.

Liam, the sweet boy with warm brown eyes and a puppy like face has been Zayn's crush since their first year in University and it's their third year now and he's yet to make a move. Hence Louis has made it his job to drop hints as often as he can for Zayn.

And if he's found Liam's blog ( _not a hipster blog, and Louis thanks the lord for that everyday but the boy reblogs pictures of things you would expect a kid to reblog- like toy story or legos, or even puppies and Louis' got to admit, this guy is perfect for Zayn, like really_ ) no one needs to know, okay, and if Louis sends him anonymous asks pestering him on who he likes, well, at least he successfully got it out of Liam that it's a guy.

It's a work in progress, really.

But now he merely swings an arm around Zayn and grins at him knowingly. Zayn just sighs dejectedly and Louis considers it a win on his part.

The line only starts moving after him and Niall have sat down, having decided it's going to take a while. They both groan when the lines starts moving—and _psh,_ no they don't crawl on their hands and knees ( _yes, they do_ ) instead of walking.

Niall is actually one of the people Louis doesn't tolerate but actually likes, even loves. Although the kid is one of the most social people he's ever met—seriously, Niall knows _everyone_ —he seems to genuinely enjoy everyone's company and he's always smiles and snapbacks and loud laughter that rings in an empty room and Louis appreciates that in a person.

He met Niall the year before when the Irish boy had been called in to play the guitar for one of their many skits in drama. And Louis, even as only a second year had been co-director of all of them and it had been beyond helpful to have Niall to be such an easy-going person.

Later, he and Niall became really good friends and Louis is happy to say that it's still a strong friendship. Niall and his roommate Josh come over and they all go out to get dinner every Thursday and it's one of the only times Louis enjoys being social during the week.

Also, he's seen Niall's blog and it's just a music blog he barely updates and although it did have music playing when Louis opened the blog which is always a turn off, it had been very calm and mellow and Louis found that he didn't mind...that much.

But it was alright, it was actually considered passable so Louis smiled brightly at Niall every time he saw him and let him have his leftovers during dinner. True friendship if you ask him.

(That and he really loves the blond boy, who's always there when Louis needs to drown his sorrows in a few pints and never pries but always listens and doesn't judge anyone or give a shit about what anyone thinks about him and seriously, Louis is lucky to have such great friends like Niall and Zayn)

When they get to the actual door of the coffee shop, both Niall and him agree it's probably time to stand up. Louis sighs and brushes off his bottom, shimmying a bit and Niall laughs at him and Zayn sighs again, muttering something like, "I need new friends."

Louis prods Zayn in the ribs for that but he knows the dark haired boy doesn't mean it. Louis and Zayn met when he was five and Zayn was four—the dark haired boy skipped a grade and never fails to gloat about it—and ever since then, they'd been best friends.

Zayn knows more about Louis than anyone else in the world because he'd been there every single step of the way. Zayn has always been there for him, always putting his broken pieces back together without a single complain and Louis is forever thankful to him for it.

Louis is a mess. He knows that. But really, he's a Tumblr person. How could he be stable?

However, none of his followers know the things Zayn does, the little quirks like how he can't stand his reflection in the mirror and he loves to sing but hates doing it in front of others and how he's afraid to let go of his heart again because it has _always_ come back in pieces.

They don't know that he's spent dozens of nights crying into his pillows, wondering if his parents divorced because his mom accepted him being gay and his dad didn't, wondering if he'd been the cause for all those fights, wondering if he should even be alive because look, he's gone and ruined a marriage.

They don't know his first boyfriend abused him, hit him in places no one could see like the small of his back and the insides of his thighs along with the sides of his ribs and more importantly, in his heart leaving near permanent marks. They don't know he was bullied by his second boyfriend, who was the captain of the footie team and closeted, rather using Louis as his plaything, then beating him to a pulp in front of his friends. They don't know about the countless times he's been hurt, how afraid he is to mess things up, they don't know any of that, but Zayn does.

And every single time, Zayn puts him back together and really, he doesn't say it enough—he fucking loves Zayn and all the shit he's done for him. Zayn is his absolute best friend and Louis is willing to go to the moon and back for him.

For some reason Zayn has always stuck by his side, he did it before when things were especially bad and he does it now when things are better, so Louis doubts he'll leave anytime soon and Louis doesn't like to assume people will stay but with Zayn, Louis trusts him to not just get up and leave.

So, really when Zayn says that phrase it doesn't bother Louis whereas with anyone else Louis would have already become paranoid that they'd leave right then.

They enter the coffee shop and Louis has to admit, he likes the decorations. The whole coffee shop decor is comfy and it has a sense of homeliness to it so Louis decides he's going to send a Christmas card to whoever decorated the place. Peering around the now shorter line in front of him, he can see Liam at the register, greeting customers with a large smile and Louis wonders if it's actually the shop which has an aura of friendliness or if it's just Liam in general. He's not exactly sure.

Behind Liam, there's a girl with wavy brown hair to her mid-waist and Louis recognizes her as Eleanor, from his literature class and she's a friendly face so he feels even better about the whole shop. He decides that even if the coffee is shit, he'll come back even if just to fluster Liam about the Zayn situation or say hi to Eleanor.

Louis turns to Niall and wiggles his eyebrows and Zayn blushes but Louis knows that if you're not someone close to Zayn it's possible that you wouldn’t even realize. With his tan skin, it's a bit hard to see but Louis knows even the slight hint of red is a sign of Zayn blushing.

Louis pats Zayn's arm in support and Niall cracks a joke about how he wonders how much Zayn will blush with Liam inside him if he's already like this when they're ten feet away and Louis positively cackles, throwing his head back and clapping his hands.

Niall does a satisfactory grin and Zayn is even redder and oh, _this is glorious_ , it's definitely going on Tumblr tonight. Louis calms down after a moment and people are throwing them odd looks but really, Louis couldn't care less—that was by far the most amusing thing he'd heard all week.

By the time they make it to the front of the line, only the tips of Zayn's ears are slightly red and both Louis and Niall have stopped their string of innuendos that had started after Niall made the first joke.

Louis goes up first, shooting Liam a dazzling yet eerie smile. "I'll have a plain white chocolate mocha and I was wondering how free you are on Saturday?"

He can feel Zayn's horrified stare boring into his back and it makes him want to laugh but he holds in his giggles, even when Liam stares at him like he just fell off planet lunatic.

"Uh...Eleanor, a white chocolate mocha and erm, I'm as free as usual I guess? And Louis, I'm sorry mate but you're not…exactly- er, my type? Don't take that the wrong way! I mean, you're a great guy and everything and you're really fun-" Liam's definitely rambling and Louis cracks a smile.

"I wasn't asking you for myself," Louis cuts in and Liam falters clearly at a bit of a loss and Louis rolls his eyes fondly, choosing to just step aside and instead wait for his order.

He hears Zayn stutter his way through ordering an iced caramel latte and Louis chuckles a bit to himself therefore when Eleanor hands him his drink she gives him a curious look.

He smiles and tilts his head towards Liam and Zayn and she glances over before turning back to him with a grin, shaking her head fondly. Louis' own smile widens into a grin too and he hands her the money because he really doesn't have the heart to interrupt Zayn and Liam when Zayn looks so tongue tied and Liam just seems plain out oblivious.

He pegs her as a fashion blog and really, it's unhealthy for him to be so immersed into Tumblr to start classifying people as what type of blog they'd have. She hands him his change and smiles warmly before turning back to prepare Zayn's drink who finally managed to blurt out his order.

After him, Niall rolls his eyes and tells Liam his order of a cinnamon dulce latte with a bright smile and Liam seems to be thankful for a normal conversation but then again, Louis' not that good at reading people.

Louis says bye to both Zayn and Niall after that—once Zayn's done lecturing him about how he can't just ask people if they're free, especially people like _Liam_ —and goes back to his dorm, heading straight to his room for his laptop.

He does however wave at one of the other girls who live in his dorm named Cher on his way there but really, he's in a rush to get on Tumblr—he's having withdrawal already.

When he gets to his room, he plops right down onto his bed on the left side of the room, pulling his laptop off the bedside table and putting in his password (it's _niallstaythefuckoutofmyshit_ ).

It opens up to safari and Louis grins, typing in the letter _t_ then pressing enter because it automatically goes to Tumblr. He's already logged in because, _hell_ , he never signs out.

He goes down his dash, reblogging a few things with captions like _god damn bro u high_ and _ayo slow down papi_ before going back up to his inbox and answering a few questions. He has at least twenty asks talking about some blog and they're all anonymous so he pauses, curious.

He types the url into the address bar, taking out the parenthesis and then pressing enter on _hellocheshire_ 's tumblr page and it leads him to a hipster blog and he's already confused. He's pretty sure his followers are aware how much he hates hipster blogs so why he got so many asks linking to this page is a complete mystery to him.

He's really not sure but he decides to take a look. On the sidebar it reads _Harold + 18 + Cheshire >>> London_ and then on the next line Louis scoffs because oh, this kid is definitely a hipster; _Sometimes love is hard to find but on the edge of an oasis a sun always shines_. And then Louis laughs what the fuck even, does this pretentious twat even know what an oasis _is_?

And then Louis finds himself spending hours and hours going through hundreds of pages of this boy's blog, he doesn't know why but he feels the need to. And it turns out, _hellocheshire_ here is not just a hipster who reblogs useless shit but he's one of those few hipsters that actually take the photos getting all the reblogs.

Louis proceeds to realize that _hellocheshire_ is actually just as Tumblr 'famous' as him, especially seeing from the thousands of notes he gets on his photos and underneath his description there's a count of how many people are on his page and it says _173 flightless birds_ and Louis doesn't know whether to puke on the boy's tumblr or the boy himself.

Six hours later, he's almost at the end of _hellocheshire'_ s blog and what he's doing is being a borderline stalker but he can't bring himself to stop at all.

So far he's found out that _hellocheshire'_ s name isn't _actually_ Harold, that he works in a bakery on the weekdays (there's so many fucking photos of pastries it was hard to not notice), he goes to University in London and he's in his first year, he's just moved from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, he has an older sister and his parents divorced when he was young and that he has a step-dad now, his favorite color is orange (honestly, what the _fuck_ ), he's a photography major, he likes taking pictures of people and uploading them on to his blog, there are pictures of himself on his blog but he refuses to say which pictures are him and none of them include his face, he's pansexual, he listens to the most indie bands (Louis' never ever heard of them, they're like basically nonexistent) and really, this boy may be the epitome of hipster.

Louis' had it up to here with this pompous prat ( _he may be a little big-headed himself but that's no one but his business_ ) but he finds himself on the last ten pages and on the eighth to last, he stops scrolling and he stares at the screen in front of him with wide eyes. The first picture on the page is the reason he stops.

The picture is of a boy, his head thrown back in laughter and there are crinkles in the corner of his nearly closed eyes. His mouth is open with his teeth showing and his hair is feathered into a fringe over his head in a messy fashion only certain people can pull off. He's wearing a light blue shirt with red pants and red braces. The boy's sitting on some grassy area under a tree next to a dark haired boy who is cut off. His skin is almost golden and the light captures him in a way it seems he's glowing. The boy looks absolutely radiant and Louis knows it's all down to _hellocheshire_ 's photography skills.

Because that boy is him.

That's _his_ tree and that half-person is _his_ best friend Zayn and that building in the background is _his_ dorm and that grassy area is part of _his_ University and that boy is _him_.

He doesn't know how to feel for a moment before scrolling down slightly and seeing the caption. _Saw the most beautiful boy today. Had to take a picture but was too scared to ask. Seems my camera just went off at the right time by mistake. I think I've just captured actual perfection in a photo._ Beneath that, he realizes this is the post that _hellochesire_ has the most notes on. Over five hundred thousand in all.

And Louis decides he hates him.

He's a pretentious little shit and Louis hates him.

This boy doesn't know a thing and suddenly Louis is fucking furious.

Who gave this boy any right to say anything about him, much less judge him on his appearance? To take pictures and post them on the internet?

This _hellocheshire_ is a fucking shit and it doesn't matter if he was complimenting Louis or not. Louis is seeing red and he's about to close the tab when he clicks on a random page of _hellocheshire'_ s blog instead. And it's an accident, really.

He comes across a page he'd already passed but now looking back he can see a gaudy picture of some couple smoking god knows what and the guy's hand is _clearly_ creeping up the girl's thigh and from the way the girl is looking at him, it's also clearly unwanted. The caption is some arty quote and Louis doesn't bother figuring out what it means, instead he goes to press the reblog button, ready to add his own caption.

_wow i didn't know hipsters were promoting drugs and unwanted sexual advances_

_not to mention the photography is pretty shit lol_

_#stophipsters2012_

And he tags it clearly with _lol the girl looks like she's about to fuck that guy up if his hand moves any closer_ and then _wtf kind of photography is this even_ and finally _hipsters need to be stopped guys let's start a movement_. It's all a bit ( _really_ ) petty and stupid.

He feels satisfied with himself at the end though because _ha_ , there's always at least two hundred people on his blog at all times so _someone_ will see it.

He wonders if David Karp will actually ban hipsters from Tumblr. He'll have to look into that.

He closes the Tumblr tab after that, instead deciding to start the literature paper he's been neglecting the past two days. In the back of his mind, he knows he shouldn't have reblogged that photo with such a rude caption. Not to mention, it was inaccurate because _hellocheshire_ 's photos were actually pretty good and Louis himself barely knows how to function a camera so why he reblogged that photo saying _hellocheshire_ 's photos were shit, he really doesn't know.

He falls asleep writing his paper and when he wakes up at some random hour in the night, he's tucked in under two blankets and his laptop is on the bedside table along with a glass of water which is also there. Zayn's bed is perfectly made and Louis knows the dark haired boy has classes on Wednesday mornings while he himself doesn't so he makes a mental note to hug Zayn a bit tighter than usual the next morning and promptly falls back asleep.

He wakes up again when it's nine in the morning and he sits up, sleepily rubbing at his eyes before reaching for the glass of water and drinking it. After a moment or two of sitting there, he gets to his feet wobbly and wanders out of their room with his toiletries in his left hand to the bathroom shared by the whole floor.

In there, he thinks he catches sight of Niall passed out on a toilet but it's too early in the morning for him to worry about it, so he just slides past and walks over to the one of the many sinks to brush his teeth.

After he rinses, he glances to the side and comes to the realization if Niall was there he isn't anymore. Louis does an impromptu sort of shrug to himself and grabs his stuff, getting ready to leave. He makes a move to go to the door, only to be startled even further awake when he bumps into another person.

He automatically steps back and the boy in front of him mutters an, "Oops," and when Louis looks up, he's met with shockingly green eyes and he has the mindset to fall over and die because _shit_ , they're really pretty and _fuck his life, when did he become such a teenage girl_?

"Hi?" Louis squeaks and he feels like an idiot because what is he _doing_ , he has bed hair and he's still wearing his clothes from yesterday which are now slept in. He looks like shit, and he thinks that it's somehow okay to talk to such a pretty boy?

Looking closer though, it becomes quite clear the boy's eyes are bloodshot and he's been crying, perhaps for hours. His cheeks are stained with dried tears and there are bags under his eyes. His curly hair is matted to his forehead and he's wearing only a white t-shirt with multiple holes in it and his boxers. The boy looks like he's ready to fling himself off the nearest cliff.

Yet, he still manages to be the prettiest boy Louis has ever seen.

The boy's eyes look over him once and then the boy looks like he feels even worse as recognition fills his eyes. "Hi," The curly-haired boy replies and his voice is lower than Louis expected, it seems to rumble in his chest and it fits the innocent looking boy even when it shouldn't.

Then the boy bites his plump bottom lip nervously before he says, "I'm really sorry, but, I look like shit right now, and could we like, er, pretend this didn't happen? Like so this isn't your first impression of me?"

And Louis feels a bit on the slow side as he nods in confusion and the boy shoots him a weak smile before pushing past him into one of stalls. Louis' a bit dumbfounded but he knows when he's not wanted so he walks out of the bathroom and back to his room. It's only then that he realizes how badly he wants to know why the curly haired boy was crying.

He doesn't think he'll find out so he sighs, sitting down on his bed. Zayn still isn't back so Louis knows when he does come back, he'll knock out until at least four or five in the evening. Louis still needs to give him that hug.

Louis bends over to touch his toes, feeling his joints crack and then he stands back up straight, rolling his neck once. He walks over to his and Zayn's shared closet—at this point, no one knows whose clothes is whose except for the braces. Everyone on campus is aware that braces are one of Louis' trademarks.

He squirms out of his jeans and pulls off the jumper he has on, throwing them in a basket they keep around for laundry. Instead, knowing he's not going anywhere until his Fundamentals of Directing class several hours later he just pulls on some sweats and a different colored jumper, opting for the color orange ( _shut the fuck up, you know nothing, okay, maybe he just wanted to wear orange_ ), not even bothering to fix his hair.

He crawls back into his bed, pulling the blankets up, cocooning himself before grabbing his laptop. Louis puts in his password and sees everything open from last night, meaning Zayn had just shut the screen off. On the left side of his laptop screen there's a sticky note in Zayn's handwriting and Louis rips it off, squinting to read the words.

_lou when i come back we have 2 talk! you can't jst tell ppl their photography is shit for no reason ok ? you bttr have a good reason for strtin all of this alriii love you see you in a few x_

Louis furrows his eyebrows, confused. Start all of what? Louis decides the best way to find out is the internet so he turns back to this laptop. He clicks on safari before going straight to Tumblr, assuming he's going to have to damage control for what he did last night.

He however does not expect his inbox to read _442_ , the number glaring at him and Louis suddenly feels very, very nauseous. The first thing on his dash is the post from last night except there's a caption added on from _hellocheshire_ and Louis' not sure he wants to read what it says.

But then he remembers, _he's_ the humor blog, _hellocheshire_ couldn't have come up with that great of a comeback, right?

And it proves right when he scrolls down and the only thing there is ' _Thanks_.' and it absolutely infuriates Louis. There's a burning inside of him because what the actual fuck, what a posh _twat_ , using proper punctuation and capital letters, as if he's _above_ insulting Louis back.

So Louis ignores the post, instead going back to click on his inbox and _shit, what the fuck, why are there so many fucking hipsters in his inbox_? And as he actually reads the messages, he feels his heart sink his chest because it's all hate.

Then as he scrolls further down there are people telling him what a good job he's done, finally telling hipsters off and suddenly everyone is using the # _stophipsters2012_ tag and it's everywhere and people are telling him to check the actual tag.

So he does—he types in _stophipsters2012_ into the search bar and suddenly thousands of posts appear. There are screenshots of it trending on twitter and it turns out the fandom blogs decided to help with the little trend and everyone is saying _Louis_ started it. Like he was actually fucking _serious_.

It's absolutely preposterous and Louis goes back to his dash only to realize that _everyone_ on his dash is fighting with hipsters and what the actual _fuck_ has he started? He feels like he just might throw up and this can't be happening, not because of him, not because of some posh hipster twat, absolutely _no_.

He goes back to his inbox where there are twenty five new messages because clearly everyone was just waking up. And it's all hate, all of it.

_you're such a faggot what the fuck is wrong with you??_

_Cocksucking little pussy, you had no right._

_who the fuck do you think you are? Harold is perfect and you're an asshole!_

_fucking lil gay bitch u dont kno shit about harold_

_Who gave you the fucking right to judge hipsters? You're a fucking dick, get a reality check._

_you think you're hot shit bc u have a lotta followers? LOL no you're a douchebag_

_Like you've never smoked or advanced on someone sexually, hypocritical bastard._

_Faggot._

_asshole_

_i hate you !!!_

_Go die_

Louis sits there for God knows how long just staring at the messages and when he hears the door rattle he just looks over at Zayn, belatedly realizing there are tears streaking down his cheeks.

Zayn drops his keys, staring at Louis hard before looking at the laptop in his hands. Then he's shutting the door behind him and walking over to Louis, pushing the laptop aside as he climbs into Louis' bed with him.

Louis doesn't say anything and Zayn pulls the laptop back towards him, his eyes skimming over the words before he huffs angrily, pushing it away again.

"Louis, look at me," Zayn says softly and Louis turns to him with a blank look so Zayn just sighs sadly. "Don't listen to them Louis," Zayn murmurs, grabbing a tissue from the box on the bedside table and handing it to Louis to wipe his tears.

Louis just sniffles quietly, taking a deep breath and using the tissue before saying, "I shouldn't have insulted him but he doesn't fucking know me Zayn, I don't know why the fuck he thought it was okay to post a picture of me on the internet and then call me beautiful, like _fuck him_ , he doesn't know _me_ , he has no fucking _right_ ," once his face is dry.

Zayn looks confused for a second before glancing back at Louis' laptop and pulling it closer to him. He goes to Louis' history and Louis misses the way his eyes widen at how the last _800_ pages of Louis' history are from _hellocheshire_. He does however see Zayn click on one of the links and it opens up to the picture of Louis almost as if Zayn _knew_.

And Zayn's not one to be hasty and to make decisions abruptly. He always thinks things through and thinks of the consequences because that's just how he always is but when he frowns and presses down on the keyboard roughly, he stuns Louis.

Louis watches with curious eyes as Zayn goes to Louis' inbox, pressing down on the screenshot button before he signs Louis out of his tumblr and logs into his own. He continues on to press the new photo button.

Louis' eyes widen as he watches what Zayn types after he uploads the screenshot.

_aha this is some rlly cute h8 my boi doncastersfinest is gettin_

_except its not :)_

_so this hereby an (in)direct 2 hellocheshire_

_you fuck w my tumblr bestie and i'll fuck you up u clown :) x_

_hope u catch chlamydia lol :D_

And fuck, Louis loves Zayn.

Zayn signs out before logging back into Louis' account, already knowing the password because best friends don't really hide that kind of stuff from each other. Not best friends like Louis and Zayn at least.

Zayn presses the reblog button on the last post on Louis' dashboard which happens to be Zayn's post and reblogs the screenshot. He then refreshes the page and watches as the post goes from seventy-six notes to two hundred and four, no doubt still increasing.

Louis' ask has blown up again but Zayn ignores it in favor of going to _hellocheshire_ 's blog. Louis slides towards Zayn so he can watch over Zayn's shoulder.

Zayn reads much faster than Louis, so Louis' a bit confused why the tanner boy is sniggering until Zayn points at Harry's latest ask.

_listen up, idgaf who you are but having your followers send louis hate because he's gay is downright fucking low. sort yourself out mate. you clearly don't know louis but we do, and if you fucking hurt him we'll rip your balls out faster than you can cry 'mommy', got it? hipster twat._

Fuck, Louis loves his followers too.

He glances down at the response and all the asshole had said was _I would never_. Louis scoffs to himself before flopping back onto his bed.

Zayn rubs circles into the back of Louis' left hand as he scrolls further down the Cheshire boy's blog and Louis hums contentedly. He finds himself berating himself for having a cry over this because it's just hate, he shouldn't have taken it so personally.

He knows it's more to do with the fact it was _hellocheshire_ than anything else.

Louis isn't going to admit that to himself though.

✿ ✿ ✿

The curly haired boy is at the coffee shop when Louis enters and Louis automatically freezes as he walks through the doors with his laptop case in his hand. He was ready to sit down at one of the booths and study for his Directing mid-finals while possibly irritating Liam on the side but instead he sees the boy and _fuck_ , he is not prepared.

He prides himself on never going out without looking at least somewhat decent beforehand. He's wearing extremely tight black jeans that hug him in just the right places along with a t-shirt that says _Have A Nice Day!_ with a smiley face on top and really, he's thanking himself.

Louis fixes the strap on his shoulder and walks towards the little line at the front of the store. The curly haired boy is sitting on top of the counter, talking to Liam who's making drinks as Eleanor takes orders.

In front of Louis are some second years that he's seen at the few parties Zayn manages to drag him to occasionally. They're all whispering about some Chemistry exam and Louis wants to sigh and push past them but doesn't have the energy.

It's been a week.

A week since he'd been an utter twat on the internet and a week since the _#stophipster2012_ tag had become quite infamous. He's been lying low, trying not to attract too much attention to himself, going on making normal posts as he always has.

_gonna go grab some coffee and study a bit_

_hopefully a bird won't shit on me on the way_

_let's all join in a prayer circle for me guys_

_pls and thank you_

Although despite his attempts to stay away from what they’re referring to as the ‘war’, his followers are constantly keeping him updated and he's still getting hate. The whole thing is getting more attention than Louis signed up for.

Not to mention _hellocheshire_ hasn't been much help.

Louis constantly has the boy's blog on his mind, the words _captured actual perfection in a photo_ are always flashing behind his eyes and he finds himself wondering how he'd failed to notice someone taking a picture of him that day.

It's quite clear _hellocheshire_ is too close for comfort if he managed to snap a picture of Louis on campus. Louis doesn't want to think about it but his mind comes back to it anyways. His brain is always asking questions about the stupid hipster and Louis really would appreciate if the hipster could just cease to exist. He has a headache nearly all the time. Louis honestly just needs a distraction—and he thinks he's just found it.

The second years move and it becomes Louis' turn to order. Louis orders a hot chocolate and Eleanor tells him that it’s, "Coming right up!" with a bright smile. She forwards the order to Liam and the brown haired boy has to turn from his conversation with the curly haired boy to make the order and that's when the boy seems to finally notice Louis' presence.

"Oh, hey, you're Louis, right?" The boy asks, hopping down from the counter and Louis just realizes how tall the boy is.

He's clearly taller than Louis, towering over him by a few good inches and the boy's legs seem to go on for miles. He smiles at Louis and _what the fuck_ , are those _dimples_?

Louis clears his throat before holding his hand out. "Yeah, that's me, hello. And you are?" Louis asks and he's smiling back himself. He thinks his eyes may be crinkling and he hates when that happens but he couldn't stop it even if he tried to.

The boy's hand—which, if he might add is _quite large_ —grabs a hold of Louis' smaller hand and Louis watches his hand basically disappear in the boy's.

"Harry Styles but you can call me anytime," is the boy's smooth response and Louis finds himself letting out an involuntary laugh. The boy's grin just widens and they’re still holding each other's hands. Louis thinks _what the hell are you,_ _are you even real_. It’s as if the boy has had a complete personality change.

He wonders if it's too early to be in love.

"I'll remember that," Louis tells him and they're just moving their hands up and down, smiling at each other and Louis swears there are stars in Harry's eyes and it's so bright, so, _so_ bright, Louis thinks he might be blinded.

Then someone clears their throat behind them and Louis drops Harry's hand as he moves out of the way so a timid first year can go to tell Eleanor her order.

"Are you studying?" Harry asks, gesturing towards Louis' bag and Louis belatedly realizes _oh yeah_ , he is, he’s supposed to be studying.

"I was going to," Louis starts and he wonders if he's being too forward when he finishes with, "But I think I'll be awfully lonely here."

Harry's answering grin might be growing larger by the second and Louis spares a thought for his heart because a boy like this, a boy so bright, with large eyes and even larger hands can break Louis easily if he wants.

It's boys like these that mothers warn their daughters about, boys with so much charm that they could speak to even a snake without being bitten and Louis thinks he might be that snake. But he's not sure he won't bite Harry.

He knows how badly this can end but he doesn't stop himself. He gives himself all rights to say _I told you so_ if this ends horribly but he finds himself hoping he won't have to.

"Well, I was just bothering Liam over here—he's my roommate actually—and I'd love to keep you company if you'll have me?" Harry offers and Louis realizes _oh_ , _this is the first year living with Liam_ before he can see exactly how Harry different is from the crying boy Louis had first met.

It's the crying boy that reminds Louis that Harry's not steel, he's not metal and he can be easily be broken too. It's the crying boy that makes Louis take a chance.

"I'd quite like that," Louis answers truthfully and he steps towards the counter to grab his hot chocolate, dropping the correct change on the table before jerking a thumb towards one of the booths in the back. Harry nods and smiles before motioning for Louis to go sit and that he'll be there in a minute.

Louis turns around and he fights really hard to keep the smile off his face but the wisps of one stays on his face no matter what.

He sits down and gets his laptop out along with a textbook and has to wait only a moment before Harry's back. He sits across from him with a large grin and a warm bag in one of his hands and an identical hot chocolate in the other.

Louis eyes the bag curiously. "What's that?" He asks, leaning over the table and he can swear he smells cupcakes.

While the coffee shop is near perfect, they don't have any other snacks aside from bags of sugar which they don't even give out—Louis had to duck under the counter and steal them from Liam while Eleanor laughed at him from where she was sitting on break.

Most people get scones from the bakery next door—which Louis has yet to step into. He's a bit scared he'll just buy everything and his thighs will never be the same.

So Louis wants assume Harry went next door but he if he did, he’s back fairly quick which is why Louis' suspicious of the whole ordeal.

"I work next door and I just come in two minutes before you did so it's still warm. I figured since Liam rejected my baking, claiming I'm making him fat, that maybe you'd like it," Harry tells him with shrug and Louis can see the hopeful look in his eyes as much as Harry might be trying to hide it.

Louis _knew_ he should have gone into that bakery. Fuck. He's going to end up going now for sure.

"What flavor?" Louis asks wiggling his eyebrows as Harry slides the bag across the table.

"Vanilla," Harry answers and he looks like he's a bit anxious. _Well fuck again_ , Louis' too taken with this boy and he doesn't even know him. He doesn't know what's going to happen when he actually does get to know him. He might possibly keel over and die. It's debatable.

"My favorite," Louis replies and he smiles at the green-eyed boy. He opens the brown bag and takes out the cupcake, inspecting it before looking up at Harry with curious eyes. "Did you bake this yourself?"

Harry nods; still looking nervous and his long fingers are lacing together, his thumbs twiddling. "I do most of the baking on the days I work there. And when I'm not, the owner Darien does it. But I love baking, so when I have the chance to do it, I do. Hence it's usually me. I work there five days a week when I don't have class and—sorry, I'm rambling." Harry flushes and Louis thinks he might just believe in love at first sight.

"It's fine," Louis answers and lifts the cupcake to his mouth to take a bite. Harry watches with apprehensive eyes and it's adorable, is what it is. Louis thinks Harry himself might be a cupcake. He bites slowly and he's not in the least bit surprised that it tastes like a tiny piece of heaven.

"This is _delicious_ ," He compliments and Harry smiles brightly, preening slightly under the attention.

"It's alright, I guess," Harry replies modestly but his eyes are twinkling, like Louis' just made his whole day and _shit_ , would it be wrong to drop the cupcake in favor of grabbing Harry by his collar and smashing their lips together?

It's not helping that the scoop neck that Harry's wearing reveals _lovely_ collarbones as well as tips of what might be wing tattoos. Louis could die happy, honestly.

He glances up and wonders for a second what Harry would look like with eyeliner on—then Louis realizes he's been spending way too much time on Tumblr and their affinity for punk edits has gotten the best of him.

But _Jesus_ , imagining Harry with piercings though his lips or his ears is enough to have Louis shifting in his seat. Harry already has the tattoo part down and Louis glances at his right arm where his only tattoo is. It's just a stick figure on a skateboard and he might have possibly been drunk _and_ high when he got it. Zayn won't spill the details to this very day.

He realizes Harry is staring at him expectantly and Louis feels his face heat up slightly. "This is really good. If there was a baking major, I'd tell you to consider it," Louis tells him as he takes another bite.

Harry grins at him—it's becoming a common occurrence really quickly—and shakes his head. "I love photography too much to give it up for a baking major," He tells Louis, leaning towards him and it reveals that the tips he thought were wings are actually wings—but wings attached to birds instead. Swallows, he thinks they're called.

"Photography?" He prods instead and he finishes the whole cupcake with two more bites, casting his gaze on Harry's face rather than his chest. It turns out to be more difficult than it should be.

"Yeah, I love taking photos. It's like, a tiny piece of forever, you know? You just captured a moment and now you get to have it forever. It's yours to keep. I know it sounds cliché, but pictures are actually worth a thousand words. You never really know what's happening in a photo and I think that's the beauty of it. You can assume, but you never know. Like, the Mona Lisa? It's a painting but like, it's a picture sort of too? You know how she's smiling but it's really small—" Harry's positively beaming and Louis' never seen someone so excited to talk about photography before.

He'd normally have stopped listening from the second sentence but he finds himself hanging on to every word the curly haired boy says.

"-but it's still there, you know? Maybe she was repressing it? Maybe what was happening was Da Vinci was making this really funny face while he was painting, you know and Mona thought it was really cute and he told her not to smile but she couldn't help herself? Like a fond smile? Or maybe, something really funny was happening behind Da Vinci, like, I don't know, his cat was trying to eat peanut butter? Seriously, like, the possibilities are endless! It's the same with photographs! Someone could take a photo of us right now, but they wouldn't know what's going on. They could assume I'm helping you study just because your textbook is open although I'm clearly not, but the thing is, _who's the wiser_? Not them! Only us! Because we're the people in the photos!"

Harry's looking at him with bright, bright eyes and he's a bit flushed yet he looks like the epitome of happiness, telling Louis about his passion for photography.

Louis really wants to kiss him.

"Yeah, that's—that's really cool Harry. I've never thought of it like that," Louis says and he thinks he has on that fond smile Mona Lisa has. He's almost positive he does.

Harry lets out this noise of genuine pleasure, like Louis' given him the best gift in the world by telling him that he understands. "And I—I like to capture those moments. I don't even care that I don't know what's happening. Just the fact I get to keep that moment. It might not be mine to keep but it's a story to watch unfold and I just love it so much. It's like being a writer sort of? I don't know what you like, so I'm just comparing it to different things. But yeah, like writers they have so many ideas and so many stories to tell. It's not my story but I get to tell it. I never run out, there are always things to take pictures of, you know? I—Louis, what do you do? What do you major in?"

And Louis sort of doesn't want to answer, he'd much rather just sit there and listen to Harry ramble on and on for maybe, ever because he's positive there's nothing better. He'd listen to Harry drone on for years at a time without a single regret but he finds his lips moving to answer. "Drama."

Harry lights up more— _how is that even possible_ —and Louis shuts his laptop, knowing he's not going to get any work done tonight. He somehow doesn't care.

"Drama, so you're like an actor?" Harry asks and Louis thinks the taller boy's left leg might bouncing up and down from how excited he is.

"Yeah, I guess so," Louis answers with a smile on his lips and he reaches for his hot chocolate that's cooled down. He takes a sip and waits for Harry to start speaking again.

"Okay, so an actor. You get to be something you're not, all the time. You get to portray a whole story. Now imagine that being captured—which is what I guess movies are—and everyone gets to see. You're out on display because you tell a story. Imagine just being something people want to look at all the time because you're an enigma, you get to explain something without even being that thing. And in photos, I get to tell that story. I get to show that enigma, I get to show _you_. You're something that's beautiful, wonderful, you tell a story and I get to capture that. I get to keep you even if I really can't."

And fuck, it feels like Harry's actually talking about Louis and not someone in a hypothetical sense. Harry's wide green eyes are staring at him so earnestly and well _fuck_.

"Yeah?" Louis manages to ask even while his mind is hearing those words on a loop. _I get to show you. You're something that's beautiful, wonderful_. This boy is going to drive Louis crazy.

"Yeah," Harry replies, nodding and Louis' a bit more in love than strictly normal.

"Well, I think that's really cool Harry," Louis tells him earnestly and he smiles warmly. Harry smiles back and takes a sip of his hot chocolate before his face turns serious.

"Well, I'm glad. Most people don't really understand it but," Harry shrugs, "They're missing out. Photography helps me express myself and there's nothing I would ever trade for it."

Louis' smile widens and he nods. "I get it. I wouldn't trade the thrill of being on stage performing for anything either."

Harry gives him a huge dimpled smile and Louis doesn't even know what he's doing but then his index finger is touching the indent in Harry's cheek in wonder. He ends up a lot closer than he originally planned.

Harry's still smiling but he's watching Louis carefully, like he's afraid Louis might fall and shatter into a million pieces. He's not wrong either. Louis knows if he makes one wrong move, he could potentially break himself. He's already on edge after his breakdown the previous week.

So he pulls back and gives Harry a warm smile, settling into the seat with a contemplative look. Harry raises an eyebrow but he keeps smiling so Louis takes that as a good sign. Or maybe it's just Harry's neutral face, he's not sure.

"So Harry, how old are you?" Louis asks, stretching his legs under the table and yawning once.

Harry just stares at him blankly for a moment and Louis' about to repeat his question when, "I'm eighteen. How old are you?" Comes out of the boy’s mouth, followed by Harry staring at Louis much more intensely.

Louis furrows his eyebrows and answers carefully, "I'm twenty. Twenty-one in a few months."

Harry's smile is back but he's still looking at Louis with this _look_ and Louis doesn't know what to make of it. So he just sits there and him and Harry talk for hours, about nothing and everything. Louis finds himself thinking _take that hellocheshire, I don't need to think about your hipster poshness_. Then he realizes what he's doing and his skin feels a bit tight on his bones.

But then Harry's smiling at him, telling about how much he loves cats and Louis forgets just as quickly as he thought of it. He can't believe someone like Harry even _exists_.

Still, soon enough Louis' mind is scrambling with the urge to go on Tumblr.

"I've got to go—“ He finally says and it's nearly twelve, the shop's about to close. It's a Wednesday. The only day the coffee shop closes early and doesn't stay open for the nighttime students. He notes the way Harry's face visibly falls and continues, "But this was really fun. Thanks for keeping me company. For that matter," Louis starts digging in his pocket before pulling his iPhone out, "Just put your number in here?"

And although Harry's face doesn't light up as bright, he stills manages to brighten up considerably as he types his number into Louis' phone. Then Harry takes his own iPhone out of his back pocket—h _ow did it even fit in there—_ and he hands Louis his phone.

Louis smiles slightly and types his number before pulling a funny face and snapping a picture. He sets it as his contact picture as well as Harry's background before handing the phone back. Harry's looking at him with that _look_ again and Louis tries not to read into it as he pockets his phone. He packs his stuff up, swinging his bag over his shoulder.

He's about to get up when Harry suddenly stands up, looking frantic. "Wait, could I—“ Then the curly haired boy flushes and Louis just stares at him thinking _is this what love feels like_?

"Yeah?" Louis prods, watching the way the Harry's cheeks are lightly dusting pink in the mild lighting, with Liam having turned off most of the lights around eleven.

"Could I, erm, take a picture of you?" Harry asks quietly and he looks like a toddler and how could Louis even _think_ about saying no?

"Of course," Louis answers and he watches as Harry shuffles to the counter, telling Liam something before Liam pulls out a large camera and pushes it across the counter. Harry grabs it before he starts walking back over to Louis.

"Smile?" Harry asks him quietly, and Louis does, his eyes crinkling and everything and Harry snaps the shutter. "Perfect," He tells Louis and Louis' smile widens.

Finally Louis jerks a thumb towards the door. "I really gotta go now. I'm sorry," He tells Harry earnestly and the curly haired boy makes a face but nods.

Looking at Harry, he really wants to stay longer but he knows if he does, he'll ruin it, whatever it is before it even starts. He doesn't want that.

"It was really nice meeting you!" Louis calls over his shoulder when he exits the coffee shop and he hears Harry's answering, "Likewise!"

When he's halfway to his dorm, his phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out and takes a quick glance at it.

_Somehow I think I could get used to you walking away from me with an arse like that .xx_

Louis doesn't blush. He doesn't. He's not a teenage girl.

(He squeals and nearly drops his phone into a puddle—an old lady stares at him like he’s a delinquent about to break a window which is considerably closer to the truth than most would believe—yet he manages to catch it in time.)

He texts back: _stop staring at my rear end Harold !! What would your mother think of this ? x_

He gets back to his room and he falls into his bed with a happy sigh. Zayn merely rolls over and flips him the bird, muttering something about, "Being too loud, shut the fuck up Lou," before shoving his face into his pillow.

Louis doesn't even acknowledge him because _wow_ , it's been a long time since he's been this happy. He doesn't even go on Tumblr before he knocks out, still fully clothed.

It's three in the morning when Zayn shoves at him, telling him he has a class in an hour and Louis rolls out of his bed, hitting the floor with a thud.

Then he sits up, disorientated and he rubs his eyes in confusion because _why_ is he so tired? Then he remembers the curly haired boy with bright eyes and he feels a bit light headed.

"Zayny-poo," Louis calls and the dark haired boy sticks his head out of the closet as he's pulling his jeans on.

"What Louis? And don't call me that," Zayn chastises, hopping on one leg towards Louis.

"I met this boy," Louis starts and Zayn falls over in surprise, tumbling to the ground into a heap of clothes Louis left out the morning before.

Zayn gives Louis a sharp look as he sits up. "You _what_?" and Louis knows it’s because after his last serious relationship there had been a string of boys and Louis hadn’t even bothered to learn their names, much less bring them up to Zayn.

"Shush Zayn, just listen," Louis says and he's still sitting on the floor next to his bed while Zayn stands up, still looking at Louis sharply.

"So yes, this boy. His name is Harry and he's quite delightful. He rooms with your sex toy Liam and he's a first year. He even baked a cupcake for me, specifics aside. Do you think he'll let me keep him?" And Louis says it conversationally but they can both hear the underlying insecurity in his voice.

Zayn walks over to Louis before sitting down in front of him. It's only Louis that gets to see Zayn like this, he likes to think. All messy and tired but with that fond light in his eyes because he loves Louis.

If Liam would just stop being so thick, Louis thinks Liam might be lucky enough to see this Zayn too. He knows this Zayn is one of his favorite Zayn's, if not his favorite.

"I think, anyone would be lucky to let you keep them," Zayn tells him and he's staring at him a bit sadly and Louis doesn't like it, but he resigns himself to it because Zayn only gives him that look because he cares.

"Yeah?" Louis asks quietly and he's swallowing past the lump in his throat.

"Of course Lou," and then Zayn's leaning over and hugging Louis tightly and Louis _will_ _not_ cry twice in a week so he merely hugs Zayn back just as tightly. "Come on, you've got an acting class and I have a writing seminar to attend to. You need to get up." Zayn nudges him softly after letting go.

Louis just stares at an empty spot on the floor for a while before nodding. "Will you come with me to the bathroom? I don't want to go alone," Louis tells him and Zayn of course agrees because it's not like this happen often—that Louis lets his guard down—and Zayn's his best friend who's always there.

So they both get up and Zayn changes his t-shirt for a button up plaid before slipping a varsity jacket on top of it. Zayn opens the door for Louis, who steps out of the jeans from the night before and continues to the bathroom in his boxers and _Have A Nice Day!_ shirt.

The walk is filled with silence and neither of them wants to break it. When they get to the bathroom, Zayn stops at the entry way, fixing his hair and Louis goes on to do his morning routine.

It's only when he's finished he turns to yell Zayn's name that he bumps into someone.

"Oops-" The other person starts and _hold up_ , Louis knows that voice. He looks up at the same time Harry does and Harry's eyes widen before he smiles brightly.

"Hi," Louis says a bit breathlessly, and it's a repeat of the week before except he actually _knows_ the boy this time. Also, he's probably more likely to start crying than the curly haired boy in front of him.

"Hi," is Harry's reply and they're staring at each, just staring.

It's probably a bit odd really but Louis thinks that's okay. Then someone breaks them out of their reverie which Louis belatedly realizes it's Zayn when he hears, "Lou, you're gonna be late!" and the dark haired boy saunters into the bathroom.

Harry turns his head and Louis mentally thanks anyone who's listening because he really needs a moment to collect himself.

"Hey, you're—you're Zayn Malik!" Harry finally exclaims after a moment of awkward silence and Zayn pauses, staring at Louis and Harry and the lack of space in between before making eye contact with Harry hesitantly.

"Er, yeah? I guess I am?" Zayn shifts slightly, looking confused. Louis shoots him a pointed look and Zayn's eyebrows lift just slightly.

"You're the guy Liam never shuts up about!" Harry says excitedly and then claps his hand over his mouth as if he can't believe he’d just said that out loud.

Zayn's mouth has dropped open at this point and Louis almost laughs because _wow_ , that was a bit unexpected.

"I—I didn't say that," Harry tries to backtrack quickly, looking between Zayn and Louis with wide eyes and Louis' seriously debating if it would be illegal to just keep Harry in his pocket.

Zayn just continues to stare at Harry with his mouth hanging slack. Louis decides if there was any time to laugh it would be right about then, so he does.

Harry looks mortified and Zayn looks like he might have a panic attack and _Jesus_ , this is too good.

"I knew it!" Louis exclaims, doing a fist pump sort of thing and Zayn shoots him a glare. Harry's still standing there looking unsure and like he wishes the ground would swallow him whole.

"Zayn doesn't shut up about Liam either," Louis tells Harry conspiratorially and Harry looks like he could kiss Louis. Louis decides he won't mind if he does.

(But Zayn will. The dark haired boy will lecture him later about how Louis' not supposed to just open his heart and let anyone in, that Louis has to be careful and that Zayn just wants the best for Louis. So Louis changes his mind and decides if Harry kisses him, he'll lightly push him away because he doesn't like having Zayn upset with him)

"That's great!" Harry says with a grin and Zayn glares at Harry too, so he's glaring at LouisandHarry and Louis likes the sound of that more than he should.

"I—Liam—No. No. Louis, you're gonna be late," is all Zayn says before turning around and walking out of the bathroom. Louis stares after Zayn wondering if he should feel bad but then he swears he hears a squeal that sounds vaguely like Zayn, so he doesn't.

It does occur to Louis that Zayn's right and he's going to be late if he doesn't get back to his room within the next minute but he hangs back because well, Harry's standing in front of him smiling and who's going to walk away from that?

"Why are you up this late?" He teases Harry, poking the boy's arm with his index finger.

"I have a class in an hour," Harry says and Louis just notices the boy's fully dressed, wearing dark jeans and a jumper that says _Teenage Runaway_. Louis wonders if it smells like Harry.

"So you're nocturnal too?" Louis teases and watches Harry's hands slide into his pockets, only his thumbs sticking out at the sides.

"Guess so," Harry answers and he tilts his head, giving Louis a once over and Louis nearly blushes because he has quite large thighs and Harry's getting to see them clearly now, since he's obviously not crying and Louis' not wearing pants. "You have a class to get to?" Harry asks after a moment, his eyes meeting Louis'.

Louis nods. "Er, yeah, I actually do. So, I guess I’m going to have to cut this meeting short. Sorry Harry," and he goes to ruffle the curly haired boy's hair only to realize he's too short.

 _Well fuck_. He leans up just slightly on his toes and manages to ruffle it like he planned. When he pulls back, he realizes Harry's grinning at him fondly.

Louis scowls because it's quite obvious Harry enjoys being taller than Louis so he merely huffs dramatically and walks around Harry to get out of the bathroom.

"Bye Louis!" Harry calls and Louis only turns around to flip Harry the bird and stick his tongue out before he's on his merry way. He can hear Harry's laughter ringing in his ears even when he's back in his room.

✿ ✿ ✿

It's seven in the morning and Louis' dragging on his feet as he falls headfirst into his bed. He spends a moment just groaning into his pillow.

Then he sits up and grabs his laptop from the bedside table. In a matter of minutes he's on Tumblr, scrolling through his dash and he sighs, because _of course_ , the #stophipsters2012 movement is still going as strong as ever.

He reads one post and it says:

 ** _damnlookinggoodson_** :

 **_you-are-the-sunshine-l0vely_ ** **:**

_LOL, all these faggots are trying to stop us for what reason?_

_I don't fucking see how us reblogging pictures affects your drag of a life._

_well of course you wouldn't_

_the word faggot is a derogatory term and I would quite appreciate it, if you didn't fucking use   it to insult anyone_

_thanks and go fuck yourself #stophipsters2012_

Louis really wishes he hadn't acted so recklessly. He didn't _want_ this to happen. Stupid fucking _hellocheshire_ had to go and take a picture of him and—

Louis literally freezes because _hold the fuck up_ , this twat has a picture of him. That's really fucking creepy. It's what Louis had been avoiding thinking of all week but now he can't stop because _what the god damn hell, this boy knows Louis even if he doesn't really_.

It's weird and maybe if he hadn't acted so irrationally he could've actually asked the boy how the _fuck_ he got a photo of him without Louis noticing.

Since he can't, instead Louis just slides back up his dash and makes a new post.

_so i've never read fanfiction but is it true you can meet your true love in a coffee shop or is that just some bullshit_

While he's writing it, he's thinking of Harry and he feels a smile tug at his lips. But then he's thinking of _hellocheshire_ too and they don't go well together in his mind.

He decides he's probably not going to stop thinking of either of them for a while so he pushes them to separate corners of his mind as he types _hellocheshire.tumblr.com_ into the address bar.

He frowns when he's met with the same page he'd been attempting to ignore the past few days. He spares a glance towards _hellocheshire_ 's sidebar and the picture is someone standing facing away from the camera. They're holding a skateboard in one hand and their hood is up. It's quite obvious that if this is _hellocheshire_ , he's really fucking tall and that pisses off Louis even though it shouldn't.

His eyes move toward the last few posts on the boy's blog. The first are a few pictures. There's one of a sunset and then one of a kitten curled up on a pillow. Then there's a text post that Louis squints to read since he's not wearing his glasses.

_I never understood what love was really like but I felt it for the first time looking in your eyes._

Louis scoffs, scrolling further down the page to the next text post, skipping past a double rainbow and a pair of gloves in the process.

_And If I was Da Vinci, you'd be Mona Lisa; paint a smile perfectly on you._

Louis raises an eyebrow, scoffing again because _what the hell is hellocheshire even saying_. The eighteen year old probably doesn't even know himself.

The next text post after a pile of colored blankets seems to actually make sense so Louis squints one more time, trying to read it.

_Your blue eyes are killing me, I don't know when, I don't know how, I just know I want you to never let me go. I've been waiting far too long but somehow the wait is worth it because you're better than I had ever expected._

Louis frowns because he doesn't understand but he does. It becomes clear _hellocheshire_ has at least a crush on someone if he's not in a full-blown relationship because this is all ridiculously sappy.

( _Where is Louis' hipster to make ridiculous text posts about his eyes and how they've been waiting for him. It's just not fair_ )

The next thing on _hellocheshire_ 's blog is an ask and Louis' about to skip over it when he sees his name.

 _lermanslogan_ asked: _omfG, I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE. YOU AND LOUIS HAVE MORE SEXUAL TENSION THAN IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE POSSIBLE OVER THE INTERNET LBR. CAN YOU TWO JUST FUCK AND GET OVER WITH IT. I CANNOT DEAL WITH THESE FEELS ANYMORE. I JUST. UGH. i hate boys - dua_

Louis' eyes have widened to the size of saucers because is this fandom blog on _crack_ , is she seriously trying to say him and _hellocheshire_ have sexual tension? Is that even possible over the internet?

He scrolls down to see the boy's response which is: _Erm. Okkk. I think he hates me, so I don't know how exactly that would work out but. Don't hate all boys because of me and him, I swear we're not all bad people! .xx_

He signs his asks with _x_ 's. That's _repulsive_. Louis is as British as it gets but _no_. That's for texts to cute boys, friends and family. Not for random strangers on the internet who want him and Louis to fuck.

Louis' nose scrunches up at the thought. Absolutely _no_.

Louis decides to refresh the page once more before he closes the tab and he reads the newest ask answered on _hellocheshire_ 's page.

 _oxeh_ asked: _omf i cnat breahte you nad louis are so fcuking kawaii i'm criyng i ship you two so ahrd you're my new otp #houis_

Louis decides he doesn't love Tumblr as much as he used to because _what the fuck_. He scrolls and looks at the boy's response.

_I think you should take a moment and get a tissue or something. Don't cry.. Kawaii? Isn’t that a Japanese term or something... And you 'ship' us? What's that? Otp? Huuh.. .xx_

Louis debates smothering himself so he won't have to go through the idiocy that is _hellochesire_. How does one even go on Tumblr and _not_ know what shipping and OTPs are—even people who don't _go_ on Tumblr know what the terms mean.

It turns out Louis' really stupid because he finds himself in _hellochesire_ 's ask and he's typing away.

_lol they ship us as in they think we'd look good together in a relationship and someone's otp is someone's one true pairing so we're basically their favorite (nonexistent) couple get it?? smh how do you have a tumblr and not know that darling??_

Louis presses send.

He also shoves his face into his pillow and repeatedly says, "Fuck my life." It's really no one's business but his.

It seems he really has lost it when it comes to _hellocheshire_ , he's so irrational and he doesn't think things through and it's ridiculous, is what it is.

He really hopes the boy gets too many asks to even notice Louis' message.

But Louis knows it's seven in the morning, there aren't many people online and _hellocheshire_ most likely isn't getting that many messages. Just Louis' luck.

He wonders if he'll answer privately or publicly. Louis doesn't know what to expect because he doesn't know _hellocheshire_ well enough to actually make an assumption.

Maybe the boy will tell Louis to fuck off. Although Louis hates to admit it, the boy wouldn't be unjustified if he did. Maybe he'll respond by insulting him. Maybe he'll be a posh twat again. Louis doesn't know.

So he sits there and he wonders if he should refresh his dashboard or _hellocheshire_ 's page. He decides to go with his dashboard first and there are seventeen new messages in his inbox which in itself is a bit unsettling because it's too early for that to be happening. He clicks the little message icon and scrolls down to see the messages.

He doesn't pay attention to the messages, rather looking at the senders. None are _hellocheshire_. Louis does see one _about_ the boy though. And it's the URL of the user that his him leaning closer in disbelief.

 _louisandharold_ asked: _you called him darling!! ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! otp otp otp i'm screaming oh my god i think my feels are crying jesus christ helP me i lvoe you btoh so mcuh you guys are that one couple that takes hipster photos together and makes funny cute text posts about each other wow i can't breathe htis is too much #houisforever_

Louis stares in disbelief before uttering, "What the fuck," under his breath. Clearly _hellocheshire_ answered publicly. Louis decides to wait a moment before going to the eighteen year old's page, rather opting for answering the ask.

 _lol i was being sarcastic sorry !! but we're not even a couple haha ?? also houis sounds like a std lol if you're going to ship me and_ him _together you guys better come up with a new ship name because that's not working it for me plus isn't his name like not even harold lmfao but hey i love you too :)_

Louis decides he's not being too much of an asshole and presses publish, therefore answering publicly. He probably shouldn't have put emphasis on _him_ but it wasn't that big of a deal.

He looks at the other messages and realizes belatedly they're all about _hellocheshire_.

_OH MY GOD YOU AND HAROLD ARE SO CUTE_

_Louis! Don't talk to the hipster! You'll get his germs! :( :( :(_

_AJKDBAKDNoakslnakldnakdkjSNDJADNKJADN HOUIS AKNDKAJNAKJDNASKJDN <3 <3 <3_

_darling. d a r l i n g. DARLING. OH MY GOD MY FEELS AND HE CALLED YOU LOVE JESUS HELP MEEEEE_

_'Love.' 'Darling.' You two couldn't get cuter if you tried(: <3_

_#stophipsters2012 LOL, they don't even know what otp's or shipping is; talk about late you're such a good person louis, for going through talking to that... thing. LOL._

_bro ur contradicting urself by tlkin 2 that hipster_

_LOL LOUIS I LOVe YOU SO MUCH THE SASSMASTER FROM DONCASTER IS BACK I LOVE HOW SARCASTIC AND SASSY YOU WERE TO THAT HIPSTER I LOVE YOUUUU :)_

_dont turn him gay like u too lol ew_

_did you meet harold in a coffee shop ;) ;) ;) bc yes it does happen in fanfiction!!!!!!!!_

_'You're really good at lending a hand.' OH YM GUFKCING GOD IF THAT'S NOT AN INNUENDO I DONT KNOW WHAT IS LOUIS HE WANTS THE D HE WANTS IT REAL BAD HE'S THIRSTY FOR IT IM SCREAMING_

_im crying so hard_

_love he cALELED YOUV ELOV KVLOEBAJDBAJDBAJDHGDGB this is the start of something new it feels so right to be here with houis_

_houis feels #thestruggle is real_

_Sex baby, I'm talking about Louis and Harold. ;)_

_pls marry harold_

Well then. Louis thinks he needs to reevaluate his life because this cannot be it. He glances at his other tab, figuring out which he'd rather deal with it. Would it be _hellocheshire_ and his response or more ridiculous asks.

He goes with the latter and hits the refresh button.

_I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU_

_FUCKING FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'R EHT EBEST!!!!!!!_

_LARRY LARRY LARRY_

_THANK YOU SO MCUH_

_LOURRY IS MY NEW OTP_

_loURRY OH YMG DO_

_LARRY O FUCKING T P_

_I SHIP LARRY SO HAR DI CANT BREATHE_

_I HATE YOU BUT THANK YOU ! YOU FINALLY GOT HIM TO TELL US HIS NAME_

_YOU AND HARRY ARE THE CUTEST_

_I think I may have just died from a heart attack. Or Lourry feels. Your call._

_forget #stophipsters2012 i think you meant #larryisreal_

_he likes you it's so obvious i just but i'm disappointed bc that means all this time you hurt him :( he probably cried the night you called his photography shit wow that sucks get your shit together lou fix this you guys would be so cuuuuuute together #larry_

Louis thinks now would be a smart moment to turn anonymous off so that's what he goes and does before looking at the _12_ hanging over his inbox and effectively ignoring it.

Instead he goes to _hellocheshire_ and stares at the page for a solid five minutes before gaining the nerve to click refresh.

He notes that there are three new asks so he starts from the bottom up. The first one is him. Louis skips pasts the question to look at the answer.

_That would make sense.. Thanks, love. You're really good at lending a hand. Sorry I didn't know. I do now, all thanks to you :) .xx_

Louis' not sure if the response is sarcastic or genuine. He chooses the former because the latter got him nowhere good the last time he chose it.

He sighs out loud and scrolls up.

 _pleasedontletmeg0_ asked: _H, it seems that lovely boy doncastersfinest doesn't like your ship name #houis. So go be a lovely little thing and do me a favor and enlighten the rest of the tumblr population the wonder that is your real name so that they can make a cuter ship name. Thanks. Love you! x_

The answer mocks him.

_I honestly hate you so much Nick. My name is Harry. Okkk._

His name is Harry. The posh hipster twat on the internet just _has_ to have the same name as the bright eyed boy with curls and a beautiful smile. Life is unfair to Louis, it honestly is.

Now people are referring to him and Harry as _lourry_ and _larry_. He's not sure if he preferred it when they called them _houis_ because at least _houis_ wasn't a result of his actions (Okay, maybe indirectly). Both _lourry_ and _larry_ are. Why did he even start this whole thing again?

Louis decides he just really hates hipsters and slams his laptop shut. It's not soon after he passes out and he'd be lying if he said the last thing on his mind wasn't Harry. Whether it was Harry or _Harry_ , he doesn't know.

✿ ✿ ✿

It's two in the afternoon on a Thursday in mid-October and Louis is sitting out on the flat expanse of land—which is mainly grass—the University provides them to loiter around in. Niall's sitting beside him, strumming lightly on his guitar playing what could either be Justin Bieber or John Mayer. Louis isn’t sure.

Louis' eyes are closed and he's leaning against a tree trunk, providing him shade for the surprisingly warm November day. Zayn's supposed to join them in five minutes and they're supposed to have their customary catch up session.

But for now, Louis' content with tapping his foot and nodding his head and the song changes to one Niall's written himself, one Louis' heard countless times before so he starts singing along softly. They're already at the bridge so he starts from there.

After he finishes the bridge he cracks an eyelid open and sees Niall grinning at him from the side so he's not surprised when Niall joins in to sing the chorus with him.

Then Zayn's plopping down in between them, a drawing pad in his hand and a smile on his face. He raises an eyebrow, asking a silent question—if he should join in and Louis nods, closing his own mouth.

Niall starts to hums along as Zayn begins to sing.

Louis opens his mouth to sing the bridge again when he hears footsteps coming towards them. He opens both eyes before turning his head to the side and seeing a bashful looking Harry watching them.

Niall continues strumming and when Louis doesn't sing the bridge, he looks up to see what stole Louis' attention. Niall's eyes widen in recognition and Louis can feel his heart hammering in his chest from just seeing the curly haired boy.

"Hey! Harry, my man, my bro, my son, how're ya?" Niall's saying excitedly—it's quite clear that Niall knows Harry and Louis wants to smack him for not introducing them earlier, the Irish twat—and that's when Zayn looks up from his drawing pad as well. Louis can see an outline of Niall's hands and a guitar as well Louis' own shoulders.

"Hi Niall, I'm fine, thanks for asking," Harry says, nodding his head in acknowledgement. He's blushing and Louis thinks he's still a bit in love with this boy. "You guys, you sound really good," He throws in and he's looking down as he says it, digging his toe into the ground.

Louis doesn't know what to say, so he opens his mouth and closes it before just attempting to smile at the boy, which isn't too hard.

Niall answers for them because Zayn is too busy watching Louis closely, watching the tight lines of his shoulders from tension, the fond smile on his face and the way his cerulean eyes are lighting up.

"Thanks man! It's mostly just Louis and Zayn here though, I'm more of an instrument man myself, yanno?" Niall laughs before continuing, "There's a reason I'm in sound engineering."

Harry looks up to nod and catches Louis' smile before he smiles back. "Yeah, well you guys, all of you, sound really good. Did you write it?" Harry asks and Louis thinks he must be uncomfortable, towering over all of them like that. He wants to offer for Harry to sit down but he doesn't know if he's allowed to.

"Yeah, I did actually! Do you wanna see the lyrics?" Niall asks and he's grinning, grinning like he always is and Louis' glad because out of the corner of his eye he can see Zayn looking calculatedly at Harry, clearly still wary even after the bathroom incident.

"Yeah, sure," Harry replies and he's still digging his toe into the ground, dirtying his worn in converse.

"D'you wanna sit down?" Zayn finally asks as Niall starts digging through the bag at his side, gesturing to the empty area in front of them. Louis thinks he might kiss Zayn right there and then but then he thinks no, that's a bit weird, even for them.

Harry looks like he's about to say yes when someone starts calling his name and Louis looks up in time to see Liam jogging towards them.

"Harry, I thought we were meeting by the—oh, hi." Liam comes to a stop in front of them, standing next to Harry and he's not even slightly out of breath. Louis envies him for that.

However, he can see the faint red on Zayn's face and Niall is still digging through his bag and Louis thinks Liam might be a nice addition to their little social gathering.

"Hi," Harry intones, before looking back down at the space Zayn gestured to with sullen eyes, as if he can't bear to leave.

Louis doesn't like the look so he blurts out, "Hey Li, do you and Harry want to join us?" without even thinking it through.

Liam looks a bit startled by the invitation and Louis watches as he looks over at Harry who gives the slightest of nods. "Sure, why not?" He asks mainly to himself before sitting down in front of Zayn.

Harry grins and he sits down next to Liam, right across from Louis just as Niall finally pulls out a set of paper. "Got it!" Niall says triumphantly before his eyes zero in on Liam and he blinks. "When did Liam get here?"

Zayn rolls his eyes and flicks Niall in the neck lightly but that doesn't stop Niall from squawking in protest and slapping Zayn on the arm.

"Hey, were you taking pictures?" Niall asks, gesturing towards Harry's camera which Louis realizes just now is hanging around the boy's neck. "Because I'm going to file for domestic abuse!"

Zayn rolls his eyes and Harry lets out a loud peel of laughter before slapping his hand over his mouth in a way that's absolutely adorable and has Louis wanting to reach out and kiss Harry until he's breathless. He manages to restrain himself.

"I wasn't talking pictures," Harry admits finally, his cheeks a shade of pink and Louis really wishes that life was more fair to him.

"Not that it would have helped Niall, I would never marry you," Zayn teases before crawling over Niall's legs to go sit beside Liam instead. Louis turns to Niall and raises his eyebrows slightly and Niall grins before throwing his head back and laughing.

"Yes, we're all aware," Niall replies easily before turning towards Harry with his music sheet and shoving it into the younger boy's hands. "Is it any good?"

Louis leans back against the tree trunk watching as Harry's eyes skim over the paper before he looks at Niall over the top. "Can you play from the beginning?" Harry asks quietly and Louis notices Liam and Zayn are quietly whispering to each other. He furrows his eyebrows but doesn't ask because he'll have time to later.

"Of course," Niall replies with a grin and Louis' a bit confused at how it even got to this point. Niall starts strumming the beginning riff and Louis' watching Niall's hands. He thinks he can hear Harry humming along and he has to ignore the thick feeling in his chest.

He looks up and he can see Harry smiling at the sheet of paper, his eyes skimming over the lyrics and Louis doesn’t understand what it is, what it is about this boy with a stupid camera around his neck and a stupid smile and stupid flushed cheeks and stupid curls that has him hearing his own heartbeat thud in his ears.

He thinks if Harry were anyone else he’d hate him. He doesn’t think that’s possible with Harry because he’s Harry and he looks warm and soft and Louis feels this _thing_ for the boy growing inside of him, a fondness he just can’t help.

He knows he’s been staring at Harry too long but he can’t peel his eyes away and even when Harry looks up, meeting his eyes for a split second, Louis doesn’t falter.

Harry gives him this soft smile and it feels private, even while they’re in the middle of crowded courtyard, that smile feels like it’s for him.

“This is really good,” Harry says to Niall once the Irish boy’s finished strumming and Niall grins at the curly haired boy.

“Well if a posh twat like you thinks so, it must be,” Niall teases and Louis has the pleasure of seeing Harry blush again and it’s a pretty sight that Louis’ thinking of framing on his wall.

“Hey!” Harry says, mock-affronted but he’s smiling and _lord_ , Louis’ way too besotted.

Niall just laughs and Louis likes this, whatever it is. This whole thing with the five of them, it seems like a nice dynamic. It’s not a group you’d expect to see together but Louis likes it all the same.

Then he remembers that he was going to ask Niall and Zayn if it was alright for him to ditch out early because Lottie had called that morning, saying that she was coming over and Louis wants to sigh at his entire life.

“Hey guys, I, er, I have to go?” Louis says and it’s sort of sudden, the way everyone turns to look at him.

“You have to go?” Zayn repeats curiously and Louis can see a wisp of a smile on his face from talking to Liam and they are _definitely_ going to be talking about that later but at the moment he has to keep his priorities straight and no pretty boy or Liam Payne can distract him.

“Lottie,” is all Louis says in explanation before gesturing back towards their dorm and Zayn smiles.

“Oh, why didn’t you mention sooner? Go,” Niall says before Zayn can open his mouth and Louis smiles gratefully at both of them before looking at Harry and Liam.

“I’m really sorry, we’ll all hang out sometime soon or something to make up for this. I really gotta go, sorry,” Louis’ apologizing as he gathers his papers for the new play this semester which he’d been looking at before Niall had arrived.

He chances one last look at Harry as he’s rushing off and he looks a bit sad and Louis doesn’t know why that makes him feel happy but it does.

✿ ✿ ✿

He runs into Harry again and it’s a Saturday afternoon near the end of October. Louis is walking through a small park not too far from his dorm when he sees him.

He wonders if Harry comes here for the same reason—to clear his mind and just breathe—when he sees a camera in Harry’s hands.

He stops walking and watches from where he’s standing as Harry’s head tilts to the side. He looks past Harry and sees a playground with a single girl on a swing. She can’t be more than seven and he thinks she’s posing for Harry too.

His thoughts are confirmed when Harry clears his throat to catch her attention. “Lux, you can start swinging now,” He tells her and it’s with a beautiful smile on his face.

She nods and digs her tiny feet into the ground before pushing off, swinging higher and higher with every single swing.

Harry’s still smiling but his face becomes more serious as he bends, his camera held in front of his face and Louis’ a bit too far to see exactly what Harry’s doing with the camera but he can tell it’s way more than he could ever even try to do.

He thinks he likes this Harry, the one who’s smiling and calling out instructions to the little girl every once a while who listens. A flash goes off every minute or so and Louis’ been watching this happen for fifteen minutes when the girl catches sight of him.

She starts to slow down and Louis’ shaking his head no because he doesn’t want to Harry to know he’s been watching him, that would come off _creepy_.

But it doesn’t stop her—it seems to make her even more determined to stop, digging her feet into the ground—and Louis drops his head in disdain.

Louis decides little children hate him.

“Lux? Lux, what are you doing?” Harry asks and Louis gives the girl one more pathetic glance in hopes of her not saying anything.

It doesn’t work.

“There’s a boy there, Uncle Harry!” She says loudly and one hand slips from the chains on either side of her to point at Louis who glares back.

Harry turns slowly and his camera is still raised when he sees Louis.

Louis does an awkward sort of wave thing and he hears the shutter go off accompanied by a flash that momentarily blinds him.

When he blinks his eyes open again, Harry’s standing in front of him with a smile bright enough to rival his camera.

“Hi,” Harry says and well, Louis can’t just pretend he’s not there now, can he.

“Hi,” Louis says back and well, _who_ gave Harry permission to be so tall because he’s practically towering over Louis.

Harry looks back at the little girl who raises an eyebrow and Louis is _not_ about this life. “Lux, give me five minutes?” Harry asks and he says it so sweetly that Louis’ rethinking his entire existence.

The girl nods before she grabs onto the chains of the swings again, ready to dig her feet into the ground and swing.

Harry turns back to Louis and holds his camera up once more and Louis doesn’t even know what’s happening when suddenly there’s a flash in his face again.

Louis blinks twice and looks at Harry who’s still grinning at him. “You’re really photogenic,” is all that Harry says and he’s biting his lip like he’s afraid Louis might mind.

“Yeah, well, it’s a gift,” Louis says, shrugging and _when_ did it get so cold? He doesn’t know but he’s huddling in his jacket further, trying to gather as much heat as possible.

Harry laughs. “I’m sure it is,” he replies and his eyes are twinkling, and _how is that even possible, who has eyes that actually twinkle_?

“I’m really not though,” Louis says, looking down to avoid seeing Harry’s stupid twinkling eyes and stupid pretty smile and stupid flushed cheeks and _he did not sign up for this_.

He misses Harry’s raised eyebrow but he does hear his disbelieving chuckle. “Shut up, you have fantastic cheekbones. How could you not be photogenic?”

Louis scoffs but there’s a smile toying at his lips. “Flattery will get you nowhere Styles.”

“I beg to differ,” Harry says and then suddenly the whole world is upside down and Louis’ whole view becomes Harry’s back. Louis hastily grabs on to Harry’s arms to keep from falling over.

He’s stunned before he realizes Harry threw Louis over his shoulder and they’re currently walking back towards the playground.

“What are you _doing_?” Louis asks, too shocked to even yell properly. He’s having trouble processing two things—first being Harry threw him over his shoulder for no reason and second that Harry was _able_ to throw him over his shoulder.

“We’re going on an adventure,” Harry says and Louis can hear the grin on his voice.

“And why do I have to be upside down during this trip?” Louis asks and he’s a bit scared of falling because he _knows_ he’s heavy and there’s no way Harry can just c _arry_ him around.

“Because you’re small and cute, so deal with it,” Harry replies and he stops walking to call over to Lux. “Lux, you can go home if you want, don’t tell Lou I gave you cookies!”

Louis’ thankful for the momentary distraction because he could swear Harry just called him cute. He also called him small but Louis’ happy to forget that for the moment.

“Alright Uncle Harry, I’ll see you soon!” The girl—Lux—says and Louis hears her feet hit the pavement.

Then Harry’s moving again and Louis grips Harry’s arm tighter. “I hate you,” Louis mumbles under his breath and Harry laughs.

“I’m being your Prince Charming. I just don’t have a horse so my shoulder will have to do,” Harry says and he’s so cheesy that Louis wants to throw up—all that he has in his stomach are butterflies so he doesn’t know how that will work out.

“This isn’t a fairytale,” Louis replies instead and hopes he comes off sounding bitter but honestly, he’s on top of the world (he doesn’t even want to think about how he’s implying Harry is the world so he pushes it to the back of his mind).

“It can be,” Harry says and then his arms are slipping from where they’re wrapped around Louis’ thighs.

Louis’ vans hit the floor and he realizes they’re in a larger playground, further from where the little girl had been and the swings are higher. Harry moves away from Louis and sits down on a swing. He beckons for Louis to sit in the empty swing next to him and Louis is with a _toddler, honestly._

“You’re kidding,” Louis intones instead of sitting down, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

“Nope. This is my serious face.” Harry makes a silly face and Louis thinks this boy is going to destroy him—break him into tiny, tiny pieces.

“Are you _five_?” Louis asks incredulously, looking around wondering if maybe this is a dream because Harry just cannot be real.

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be,” Harry replies grinning and his eyes are soft, as if he means what he’s saying and Louis thinks that he was never prepared to handle someone like Harry but he finds himself sitting down in the swing next to Harry anyways.

“You’re ridiculous,” Louis mutters and it sort of irks him how Harry’s feet are solidly on the ground while he sort of has to stretch. He thinks Harry notices because he has this Mona Lisa smile on his face while he stares at Louis.

“Just a bit, yeah,” Harry agrees before turning his swing around so he’s facing Louis. Louis waits a minute before he turns to face Harry and suddenly Harry is grinning as he tangles their legs together.

“What _are_ you doing?” Louis asks but he’s smiling, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he watches Harry do something to his camera before he takes a snapshot.

“What does it look like?” Harry shoots back and then he moves the camera up to take a picture of Louis. Louis hastily ducks before he reaches for the camera himself, leaning his upper body towards Harry.

He doesn’t really think it through so he ends up falling, dragging Harry with him because of their tangled legs. It works in his favor if he thinks about it.

“Louis, what are you—that is your _knee_ —are you trying to take my camer—Louis, give me that _back_.” And then Louis’ up and running with a camera that doesn’t belong to him in his hands.

“Come get it,” Louis calls and he turns around a split second to press down on the button, getting a picture of Harry staring at him while he grins in disbelief.

Then Louis’ literally _running_ and he thanks himself for going to the gym a few times a week. He can hear Harry running behind him and Louis lets out this breathless sort of laugh.

“Louis, give me that _back_ ,” Harry’s saying but he sounds like he’s laughing too so Louis turns again, taking another picture of flushed cheeks and white teeth.

“Get it yourself Styles,” Louis replies and he slips the strap of the camera around his neck before he starts running up the stairs of a mini-playground.

“And I’m the one who’s five?” He hears Harry ask himself and Louis feels himself smile even wider because it’s been a really long time since he’s had fun from doing something so stupid.

He makes his way to the slide and he spends a second too long wondering if he’ll fit inside and someone rams into him from behind.

They both fall into the slide and Louis widens his eyes as they start to go down and he hears someone laughing and it takes a second to realize it’s him.

They land in the rubble and they’re laughing and Harry’s underneath him, pressed into Louis’ back and this is becoming ridiculously like those sappy movies that Louis says he hates. (He doesn’t really, he actually spends a day a month watching them and crying into low-fat ice cream)

“It’s a good thing you’re not heavy,” Harry says and Louis blushes before rolling off Harry but he’s still smiling and his cheeks are tinted pink with happiness.

“You’re silly,” Louis says but his face contradicts his words.

“Yeah,” Harry agrees and his eyes are twinkling and his dimples are indented into the sides of his cheeks and Louis has this urge to kiss him like always.

“It’s good on you,” Louis says and he raises the camera to take a picture of this boy with his silly smile and silly eyes that are watching Louis fondly.

Harry reaches out for the camera and Louis tries to hold out of his reach but Harry has longer arms than him and it’s really not fair when he’s able to take it out of Louis’ grasp.

Louis pouts and he feels something press against his cheek and there’s something akin to shock on his face but it’s the good kind because Harry’s lips just pressed against his skin and a flash goes off.

Harry moves the camera and his cheek presses against Louis’ shoulder and he’s nosing Louis’ neck, muttering, “Oops.”

Louis turns his head to look down at Harry and he says, “Hi,” and it’s like a thing with them. They’re lying in a park under the sun with gravel pressing into their backs and Louis doesn’t think he’s ever been happier.

✿ ✿ ✿

A few days pass and suddenly it’s November. Louis literally falls on to his bed with a plop, thankful that his next classes are at four in the morning because right now at seven in the evening, he’s ready to crash for a few hours.

And it’s only Monday.

Louis sighs, rubbing his eyes sleepily and he thinks his life is sort of falling apart. Not in the dramatic way everyone always expects but in the way he can feel this emptiness inside him, gnawing at his heart.

He usually doesn’t like to brood but it’s one of those days and he can feel it coming on, he knows he’s going to need a blanket and some warm tea along with a nice cuddle to fix this but Zayn is with Liam last time he checked and Louis would never intrude on that.

He sighs again and he thinks it’d be a nice time to have a boyfriend maybe. Yet all he has is his laptop and for the moment, it’ll have to do.

He sits up slowly before he picks up his laptop from where it’s lying beside his bed and he blinks once, twice before he turns it on.

In a matter of minutes he’s still sleepy but now he’s logged into Tumblr and he thinks if anyone can make him feel better in the absence of Zayn it’s these people.

He clicks new post and starts to type.

_do you ever have one of those days you’re just empty?_

_sigh i just want a boyfriend to cuddle with when i’m sad_

_is that so much to ask for_

And he presses post.

Then he rubs his eyes again before running his hands over his face slowly—he can literally feel the exhaust rolling off his skin.

He presses refresh and there’s about twenty new asks in his inbox and he feels the beginnings of a smile on his face but it’s just not enough. He clicks on the little _20_ and looks down at some of the asks.

_smile :) we love you louis!_

_turn that frown upside down ! <333_

_Friendly reminder we love you loads. (:_

_ur always making us smile so let us return the favor :) smileeeeeeeee louis!_

_Don’t be sad. Smile :) .x_

Louis stops there because the _.x_ sign is a certain someone’s signature and when he looks at the person who sent it, _hellocheshire_ is there in bold.

He’s still tired but suddenly not as much because _no_ , he’s not allowed to be _nice_ to Louis when Louis was so obviously _rude_ to him. It’s not supposed to work like that.

He hesitates before he presses the answer button.

_don’t really have a reason to but thanks for the thought_

And Louis feels like _such_ a shit because this stupid hipster boy is telling him to smile even after Louis started a stupid _internet_ war with him.

His life isn’t fair.

He presses on the button to publish the ask publicly anyways and when he goes back to his dash he can see that the ask has nearly a hundred likes already. He thinks this doesn’t really help him feel better.

He closes his laptop dejectedly and bends down to slide it under his bed. He’s just about ready to crawl back into his bed and cocoon himself in blankets when there’s a knock at the door.

Louis pauses what he’s doing and looks down at himself—he’s wearing pajama pants and some short sleeved t-shirt he found in the back of his and Zayn’s closet and he thinks it’s presentable enough so he climbs out of his bed, walking towards the door slowly.

He knows it’s not Zayn because he has a key and Niall would never knock but he doesn’t know who else it could be. He reaches for the doorknob and turns it, cracking it open just an inch so he can see who it is waiting behind the door.

When he sees green hopeful eyes and a hand rose to knock again, he freezes. Louis watches the hand fall back down and then Harry is smiling at him.

“Hi,” Harry says softly and Louis’ life is _really_ unfair.

“Hi,” Louis says back and he pulls the door open some more and he looks at Harry with what he hopes looks like a smile but he doesn’t know.

Harry’s face softens and he’s looking at Louis with this look that Louis’ not nearly awake enough to think about. “Zayn said you might want some company,” Harry says slowly and he’s still looking at Louis hopefully and it seems like Harry doesn’t know—doesn’t know what it’s like to be sad. But Louis knows everyone knows and _God,_ Louis really doesn’t know if he should be dealing with this right now.

His brain is clearly not connected his mouth though because he quietly says, “Please,” in response to Harry’s statement and then Harry’s nodding and pushing the door open, sliding past Louis right over to the couch in the far corner of his and Zayn’s shared room.

On Harry’s way, Louis watches the curly haired boy grab one of the blankets from Louis’ bed before he’s setting himself down and the thing is Harry _fits_. He fits in this little safe haven of Louis’ and he’s sitting there smiling, waiting for Louis like it’s something _normal_.

He can feel an ache in his chest because things like this, thing so nice don’t _happen_ to Louis. Things like Harry don’t happen to Louis. Things so lovely and wonderful and Louis knows it’s safe to back away now before it gets too bad, before he ruins it but he finds himself walking towards Harry and sitting next to him.

“Tell me you’re a cuddler,” is all Louis’ sleep-muddled brain can say as Harry pulls the blanket over the both of them and Harry laughs. Then suddenly Louis is being pulled towards Harry without even realizing it. Louis doesn’t even have time to process what’s happening before he’s caught between the sofa and Harry’s side and it’s so warm and so nice and _this can’t be healthy_.

“Did you really expect any different?” Harry asks and his voice is in Louis’ ear and Louis just. He doesn’t know what to do or how to feel. He knows it’s not possible to really like someone after just a few weeks but he does, he does and he hates it, hates how Harry makes him feel.

“Nah,” Louis mutters and he thinks it’s pretty impossible but he still manages to squeeze closer to Harry. “You’re too nice to not be a cuddler,” Louis remarks and he gets to hear Harry’s laugh again.

“You’re so small Lou,” Harry tells him and Louis doesn’t know why that makes him smile into Harry’s shoulder but it does.

“Don’t make fun of me,” Louis complains and it comes out mumbled. When he blinks, he looks down at Harry’s sweater, which says _California_ and it’s light blue and Louis thinks it might match the color of his eyes but that’s reading into things. “And I like your sweater,” Louis adds on as an afterthought then shuts his eyes again.

He can almost feel Harry smiling down at him and then suddenly the warm heat pressing into his side is gone and Louis makes a noise in the back of his throat in protest. Then the blanket’s being pushed away and there’s something going over his head, which Louis belatedly realizes _is_ Harry’s sweater.

Louis opens his eyes for a second and he can see Harry smiling at him fondly and Louis has never felt _so_ _small_ both metaphorically and physically. He’s literally drowning in Harry’s sweater and for some reason; he’s already decided he likes it better than all of his own sweaters.

Instead of thinking about it, Louis makes grabby hands towards Harry who smiles and reaches out to hold one of Louis’ hands and it’s like the first time they officially met—Harry’s larger hand literally swallows Louis’ smaller one.

“So small,” Harry repeats but Louis can literally _hear_ how much Harry likes the fact Louis’ smaller than him in the smug bastard’s voice.

“Stop,” Louis complains burying his head into the couch in attempt to look away from Harry’s pleased face but Harry just laughs and moves closer to Louis until they’re in the same position they were in before Harry moved away.

“Sorry,” Harry says but he doesn’t sound apologetic at all and Louis thinks that shouldn’t make him smile as big as it does. (The thing is, Louis _loves_ to be manhandled, just not roughly but more in a sweet, gentle way)

“I’m sure you are,” Louis scoffs and suddenly, it feels like maybe he’s not that empty. With this bright boy pressed against his side, an oversized jumper on his shoulders and a warm blanket surrounded the both of them, Louis feels sort of whole.

He likes the feeling a lot.

“You seem tired,” Harry says instead and he’s smiling really big, Louis can almost feel it and when he cracks open one eye, he can see both Harry’s dimples from where he’s leaning against Harry’s shoulder.

“I am tired,” Louis replies and his urge to kiss Harry is there, to kiss him slowly and languidly and until they’re both breathless with laughter but he’s not _allowed_. He refuses to.

(He wants to really, really bad and the fact that he can’t is gnawing at his inside)

“Then sleep, slowpoke,” Harry says and Louis feels Harry’s index finger poke his nose, _and oh my God, how is he even real_.

“I’m not slow,” Louis mutters drowsily but he’s about to fall asleep anyways, he’s just too tired not to and this is what he wanted after all—to be cuddled by a cute boy who he likes.

“Never said you were,” Harry replies and Louis can hear the grin in his face. He’s convinced that Harry’s always smiling.

Louis doesn’t even have the energy to protest and he falls asleep to the sound of a steady heartbeat.

✿ ✿ ✿

Louis is losing his mind. He doesn’t know how it happened but he’s been staring at his phone all day. He’s been waiting—just waiting. For a stupid text from a stupidly pretty boy.

He drums his fingers along his keyboard as he waits for his laptop to start up.

It’s not like Harry _told_ him that he would text him but Louis finds himself wishing it would happen anyways and the whole cuddling thing a few days ago hadn’t been completely insignificant.

He’s gotten this idea that if he stares at his phone long enough it’ll beep with a next text message or maybe even start playing Demi Lovato’s _Heart Attack_ which he refuses to admit is his current ringtone.

It works in the movies so Louis’ determined.

Louis signs and looks away for a second as he types in his password and waits for his previous tabs to open up and lead him to Tumblr.

He chances one more glance at this phone on his nightstand again only to look back at his laptop screen again when nothing happens.

He clicks on the text button on his dashboard and it leads him to a new tab for a new text post.

_why do cute guys never text me_

_am i not beyonce enough for you shits_

He tags it as s _tupid curly haired shit_ and presses post with a second thought.

Then he spares a look at his phone for something—anything. Nothing happens.

Louis leers at his phone before turning back to his dashboard and clicking the refresh button, waiting for the new posts to load.

His previously seven messages is now a twenty and Louis raises an eyebrow, reaching over to click on the button.

He’s not surprised they’re all about _hellocheshire_. Not really anyways. It’s clear both Harry’s take joy in Louis’ aggravation. It’s not a cute trait on either of them.

_Lol harry wont text u back?_

_I think Harry prefers ghandi over beyonce tbh._

Louis doesn’t even scroll any further than that, instead pressing the answer button on the question he just looked over.

_someone needs to tell harry to smd bc beyonce is the queen goodbye_

Then he presses publish before going back to his dashboard where he can see the text post he made already has nearly a hundred notes.

He smiles because as much as he hates the people on Tumblr, he loves them just as much. They’re ridiculous but they’re ridiculous in the best way.

He sees there’s new messages in his inbox again and he rolls his eyes before clicking on the little mail icon on the top of the page.

_That’s hot._

_Aiosdjsijdaksdalksd ! eeeeep :D otp <3_

_ur always beyonce enough louis. (:_

_I’d love to suck your dick._

Louis stops there because that’s not just any Tumblr. No, that’s _hellocheshire_ and it’s possible Louis is suffering from a heart attack.

He stares blankly at the ask for a whole two minutes before blinking once. Then twice. He even goes as far as refreshing the page. It’s still there.

Louis opens his mouth before he closes it. Then he repeats the process and he just continues to stare at the screen, his mouth hanging slack.

Then.

“What.” It’s not even a question. With his staring, he misses the way his phone lights up. Instead, he’s so confused that he doesn’t understand anything, much less the fact he has an ask in his inbox from _hellocheshire_ saying that he wants to suck Louis’ dick.

He slowly uses the mouse to click on the answer button and his fingers still on the keys as he tries to think of what to say.

_I feel honored but—_

Louis backspaces it all.

_That’s flattering and all—_

He backspaces again.

_where and whe—_

He stops, backspaces then debates slapping himself in the face. Hard. Very hard.

Finally Louis settles for a: _what_

He thinks he must be a good person when he answers privately. He must be. He chose not to embarrass _hellocheshire_ publicly and that has to count for _something_ , right?

Louis takes a deep breath before reaching for his phone to call Zayn when he sees there’s one new message on the lock screen.

He nearly screams in happiness but holds back the last second because that would be reaching a whole new level of pathetic and Louis Tomlinson doesn’t _do_ pathetic.

(Yes, he does but that’s his business only)

_Good morning :) .xx_

Louis laughs. It’s one of the laughs that hit you out of nowhere like a seed of happiness sprouting in your chest. Louis thinks it’s been a long time since someone made him feel that way.

_Its five pm !! :) but good morning xx_

Louis sets the phone down with a smile and turns back to his Tumblr, going to his dashboard and clicking reblog on his own post.

_update: i am now beyonce enough_

He presses post and his smile doesn’t drop as he clicks on his inbox again because _Harry_ is _texting_ him.

The top ask in his inbox is from _hellocheshire_ and even _that_ doesn’t drop Louis’ smile from his face and that’s saying something.

_I’m sorry! That wasn’t me, I swear! That was my friend Nick, honest._

Louis doesn’t really notice but his smile widens, just a bit. Just a tiny bit.

_ur just giving these girls more reasons 2 ship us young harold  i s2g next thing u know there will be blogs dedicated to us and our “relationship”_

_oh wait_

He presses answer privately and there’s a secret sort of smile on his face as he turns to his phone just as it lights up again.

He slides his thumb across the screen, putting his passcode in to see the message and the whole time, he feels like he’s on top of the world and he really hopes he won’t fall from where he’s perched so high.

_Well I just woke up and there’s a strawberry stuck to my left big toe so let me have this one? :P .xx_

Louis laughs again and he’s so terribly smitten with this stupid boy.

 _Strawberries taste how lips do ! :) xx_ is what Louis texts back and he thinks his cheeks might hurt from how wide his smile his, the crinkles in his eyes beyond prominent.

He turns back to his computer and accidently clicks on _hellocheshire_ ’s URL. It’s not really surprising with Louis’ luck in recent events. He sighs (and it’s a Mona Lisa kind of sigh) and goes to click on the back button at the top of his browser when he notices latest post on the page.

_If I kiss you, will your mouth read this truth? Darling, how I miss you; strawberries taste how lips do._

Louis gapes at the page for a second as he sees the post was posted _about a minute_ around the exact time that he texted Harry—neither before nor after.

It’s really weird but Louis puts off as a coincidence, rather going back to his inbox and the third question down from the top is _hellocheshire_ ’s.

(He feels really weird calling him Harry because _hellocheshire_ and Harry are nothing alike and he refuses to let them linger in his mind with the same name—simply too weird for him)

_There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly shipping! (Is that how you say it?) Also, if random people want to make blogs dedicated to you and I, I have absolutely no problem with that :) .xx_

Louis wants to smack both himself and _hellocheshire_. How did he even let it _get_ to this point? He’s had a firm _stay_ _away_ from hipsters rule ever since he started on Tumblr and _this_ , this isn’t supposed to even be happening.

He clicks answer and he sits there for a moment, just staring at the ask in self-pity.

 _jfc why is this happening to me_ is what he replies and as rude as it is, he never said he was going to be nice to weird hipsters on the internet who have pictures of him. That’s just a no.

He turns back to his phone and he sees a new text from Harry waiting for him and it lessens his frustration more than it should.

 _I did peg you for the Ed Sheeran type :) Nice to know I was correct .xx_ ( _And it’s not complete yet, mustn’t get our feet wet ‘cause that leads to regret—diving in too soon)_

And it feels more real than it is in that moment. Those lyrics seem to relate all too well and _wow_ , Louis does really not want to deal with this right now.

Louis texts back a smiley face and hopes that it’ll end the conversation because right now is not the time for boys with stupid smiles and bright eyes.

He doesn’t check his Tumblr inbox again but he feels little bad for how he acts towards _hellocheshire_ because the truth is, thus far _hellocheshire_ has not been rude to Louis once, even when Louis insulted his photography.

So Louis instead types in _hellocheshire.tumblr.com_ and clicks on the ask to the far right side of the page.

_hey so like i’m an asshole and like i’m rly sorry i sort of didn’t mean for this to really happen i’m just a twat honest and u’ve been nothing but nice and ugh soz x_

Louis clicks ask and takes a deep breath before he presses the follow button on the top of the page. He’d checked last week and it turned out _hellocheshire_ had been following him for quite a long time and he’s honestly the most massive twat in the world.

Not to mention now he’s trying to avoid a boy he really likes for no other reason besides that he’s afraid and he knows he’ll go running back the second Harry shows up at his door and texts him again but at the moment, he feels so tired.

Louis wishes he knew what it was like to be brave but he thinks with the ask he just sent to _hellocheshire_ he’s on his way.

✿ ✿ ✿

He was right when he said he’d go running back the second he saw Harry again because he ran into him at the coffee shop again two days later and he spent more than half the night sitting there, sharing childhood stories with Harry.

(He’s pretty sure his Mum would love Harry more than she loves Louis—Louis wouldn’t even blame her.)

It’s seriously _unhealthy_ how much time Louis spends thinking about Harry. Not to mention it’s quite possible he can actually stand _hellocheshire_ now and his life is on so many levels of unacceptable that he doesn’t even know what to say anymore.

After that week, it’s sort of a regular thing. If he’s not texting Harry, he’s talking to _hellocheshire_ on the Tumblr app on his phone. It’s completely ridiculous—this thing that’s happening here.

Over the course of the next month, he has too many study dates with Harry (they don’t even have the same classes, did anyone _really_ expect them to study?) for stressful midyear exams, too many new followers who ship _lourry_ and way too many conversations with a hipster he’s not even supposed to like.

The _#stophipsters2012_ tag hasn’t stopped but now it’s not about _hellocheshire_ and him anymore, even though everyone on Tumblr knows it started because of them.

Also another thing is, Louis’ birthday is coming up. It’s less than a month away yet everything’s so completely different from the year before.

Last year was the year that Louis was a crazy party animal and when he was the literal life of the party—Kesha had never been so accurate before with _now the party don’t start ‘till I walk in_ —not that he likes to speak about it. He’d had his twentieth birthday planned for months in advance but he hadn’t expected it to be _such_ a hit. It turned out to be one of the best Christmas Eve/birthday party’s the university ever had due to the fact the whole university was snowed in and no one could go home. It’s one of the reasons that Louis’ so popular without even trying.

(There’s a video somewhere of Louis giving a drunk speech, “But who needs pants, duuuuude? Fuck that, man! Wait, no, don’t fuck _that_ man! No! Fuck bitches, get money, hell to the fucking yeah—like that Selena Gomez song! You are beautiful, no matter what they say, words can’t bring me downnnn—“ Words didn’t bring him down from that table but Zayn sure did. It became obvious Louis had spent way too much time with a particular Irishman.)

This year, he just sits around in a jumper (almost always stolen from Harry) with a hot chocolate in one hand and his other hand on the mouse of his laptop. He doesn’t plan anything besides his daily cupcake run in which he gets to see Harry with cheeks that are flushed from heat and an apron tied around his waist.

His wallet is suffering and his thighs aren’t thanking him either so his cupcake run is literally a _run_ at around seven every night right after Harry gets off of work.

Then they’ll walk back to their dorm together and Harry will lend Louis a pair of gloves that smell like cinnamon and distinctly _Harry_.

Every night right before Louis will go to his room—since his is before Harry’s—, he’ll give the gloves back just so he can take it again the next night. Harry will merely smile (like Mona Lisa, always like Mona Lisa) and take them from Louis, slipping them in his coat pocket.

Don’t even get Louis started on how Harry looks bundled up in his coat, his scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and cheeks flushed from the cold. He’s always gloveless but that’s a secret for the two of them and no one else.

During the weekends when neither of them have classes and Harry’s not working, Louis will either go over to Harry’s room or vice versa. Occasionally they’ll make a visit to the coffee shop and Louis will always think he’s a little more in love than he has any right to be.

✿ ✿ ✿

Louis is out of breath by the time he reaches the bakery and he thinks his lungs might give out. He’s keeling over, his hands on his knees as he remembers how to inhale air again.

After a few minutes, he stands back up and he can no longer hear his heart pounding in his ear which he supposes is a good thing essentially.

He’s standing in front of the coffee shop and he looks in the glass to check his reflection. His hair is now falling on to his forehead and Louis groans to himself, hands going up in attempt to fix it back into a quiff. His eyes are dark and he’s starting to feel much too warm in the jumper he’s wearing (his own for once which just proves Harry’s jumpers are better).

It’s only then that he realizes someone is staring back at him from the other side of the glass. Louis’ eyes widen and he can see Zayn laughing, head thrown back. Louis flushes profusely and he watches Zayn walk from where he’s perched near the counter to the exit of the coffee shop.

Zayn leans against the doorway, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. “Well, well. Why wasn’t I informed that it was National Louis Gets Out Of Bed day?” Zayn teases but Louis sees the way his grin is real and that he’s happy Louis is getting out more often.

“Bugger off,” Louis says with a groan but his lips are upturned at the corners because he knows Zayn’s happy that he’s happy.

“Going to the bakery?” Zayn asks instead and he’s smirking again as he jerks a thumb towards the store next door.

“Maybe,” Louis mutters under his breath but he knows Zayn can hear him and he doesn’t meet the tanner boy’s eyes as he picks at his nails. He can feel his face heat up further.

“I see you pass by every day Louis,” Zayn tells him, eyebrows raised at Louis whose expression is aghast and then the brown eyed boy is laughing.

Louis pouts at him before narrowing his eyes. “And why are _you_ here every day Zayn?” Louis challenges, his own eyebrows raising.

He feels a surge of satisfaction when he manages to make Zayn flush and look vaguely uncomfortable under Louis’ scrutiny.

“I just like coffee,” Zayn defends and Louis snorts, shaking his head fondly.

“Alright, well, I’m just going to go get a cupcake then. Enjoy fucking Liam over the counter. Although he _does_ seems more like a top. Well. Then, enjoy him fucking you over the counter, whichever you prefer.” Louis grins cheerfully at Zayn’s horrified look before turning around and walking towards the bakery.

The door dings when he walks in and Harry looks up with a smile but Louis is too busy laughing to pay any attention.

When Louis finally does look up at Harry, the curly haired boy is still smiling albeit with a more bemused expression than before.

“Hi,” Louis says after he manages to stop laughing but he’s still smiling widely.

“Hey,” Harry says back and his voice signals his obvious confusion at Louis' sudden hysteria but it doesn’t sound like he’s protesting.

“So I think I just gave Zayn a boner,” Louis admits as he sits down in what has become his chair in the bakery, across from Harry at the counter.

Harry raises an eyebrow at Louis and he wipes his large hands on his apron before placing them on the counter and leveling Louis with a questioning look. There’s some flour on his arms that goes unnoticed by him and Louis wonders when Harry will see it. “You did what?” Harry asks before he bends down to reach for the cupcake Louis knows that Harry saved for him.

“I might have put the image of Liam bending him over the coffee counter and fucking him into his mind,” Louis confides and he’s still grinning because the look on Zayn’s face was hilarious as most of Zayn’s reactions to what Louis says about Liam tend to be.

Harry snorts as he straightens back up before his expression turns to one that could match Zayn’s level of horror. “Louis, I like to _sit_ on that counter. Now Liam’s going to fuck Zayn on it and I’ll have to bleach the whole thing down if I ever want to sit there again,” Harry complains but his eyes are laughing right along with Louis so Louis figures Harry isn’t actually upset.

“Sorry,” Louis says then waits a beat before following with, “I regret nothing though.”

Harry rolls his eyes, sliding the cupcake across the counter before reaching back to untie his apron. “Let me go tell Darien, then I’ll be right out and we can go,” He says and Louis nods as Harry walks towards the back room.

Louis’ still feeling the effect of running just ten minutes ago so he stretches and tries to get the cupcake with his hands instead of getting up and getting it.

He’s almost there when he hears someone laugh, ruining his concentration and he turns his head to glare at Harry who’s shaking his head while smiling.

“Absolutely ridiculous,” Harry scolds and his coat is on, his scarf wrapped around his neck. He walks towards Louis, grabbing the cupcake on his way.

“Here,” Harry says handing it to Louis who sticks his tongue out childishly before taking it. Harry holds his other hand out for Louis to grab and Louis rolls his eyes but takes it anyways to pull himself to his feet.

“Thank you,” Louis says and Harry curtsies ridiculously in return making Louis want to simultaneously hit him and kiss him at the same time.

“It was my honor, m’lady,” Harry says dramatically before getting down on one knee to grab Louis’ hand and smack a kiss on to it.

Louis pulls his hand back immediately then he goes to slap Harry playfully on the back of his head, missing it just barely. “Walk,” Louis tells him instead and he’s happy Harry doesn’t comment on the blush on Louis’ cheeks.

Instead, the taller boy actually stands up and walks.“Your wish is my command,” Harry exclaims and Louis shoots him an incredulous look.

“Never, _ever_ try to be actor,” Louis says and they’re standing outside the bakery now. Louis realizes it’s actually cold compared to how he was nearly sweating before.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Harry responds before taking his gloves out of his pockets and handing them to Louis who takes them gratefully.

Louis ducks his head to hide his smile as he puts the gloves on to his hands. They’re a little bit too big but Louis can deal with it. “You’re the one who’s ridiculous,” Louis says instead.

“We can be ridiculous together,” Harry offers as they start to walk and Louis thinks he likes the sound of that a lot.

“Yeah, we can be,” Louis agrees and his pinky links with Harry’s and that’s that.

✿ ✿ ✿

His mother calls on a Thursday in the first week of December, three weeks before his birthday and asks if he’s coming home for Christmas. Harry’s sitting across from him, fiddling with his camera and he looks up for a second, meeting Louis’ eyes and giving him a small smile before working on his camera again.

Louis thinks _I am home_ but to his mother he says, “I don’t think so.” He looks at Harry once more and the boy is still working on his camera with determination. He remembers how Harry told him he couldn’t go home for Christmas because his mother would be in America until the twenty seventh when she would get back along with Harry’s step-dad.

 “What about New Year’s?” He offers instead and he knows she can hear it, the smile in his voice so he’s not surprised she agrees. He’s also not surprised she says, “Bring him over soon,” either but he just mutters a quick, “Gotta go, love you, bye,” before he hangs up.

He doesn’t miss the way she laughs delightedly before he manages to press the end button.

Harry glances up curiously and Louis just shakes his head but his eyes are bright. (He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he’s been one of the boys with bright eyes.)

✿ ✿ ✿

It ends up not being true. The whole not going home for Christmas thing. A week later he blurts out that since Harry’s not going home for Christmas, he could come with Louis if he’d like.

Harry looks shocked at first, eyes wide. After his initial disbelief, he jumps on to Louis, hugging him tightly and he still smells like cinnamon and something distinctly _Harry_ as usual.

“I’d love to,” Harry exclaims when he pulls back and he’s grinning so wide Louis’ afraid his dimples might break although Louis knows that’s _probably_ not possible.

“Alright,” Louis says and he smiles back just as Harry sits beside him. Harry knocks his knees against Louis’ before he lets out this loud laugh that sound completely uninhibited. Louis thinks the term _L-O-V-E_ would apply here.

“Alright,” Harry repeats.

✿ ✿ ✿

It’s on one of his study dates with Harry (even though all their exams are done and the next few days they’ll be doing nearly nothing) that he realizes how he let _hellocheshire_ and Harry get a lot closer in his mind then he planned.

He and Harry are sitting in comfortable silence in the library and Harry’s camera is sitting on the table in front of them beside Louis’ script for their next play after break. There are scattered photos all over the table of the most random things. Louis swears that there are pictures of him mixed into the pile but he’s not bothered enough to care.

Harry takes pictures of him _all the time_ and at this point Louis pulls an annoyed face (which ends up turning out fonder than he’d like) when he manages to notice. Other times he won’t notice and he’ll be doing something when he finds a picture of him with a post-it on it usually with a smile face followed by _xx_. These are the pictures he doesn’t even know Harry takes whether they are of him sleeping, sipping coffee, studying his script or just staring off in the distance.

This particular Tuesday neither of them are doing their work, rather having their phones out instead. Louis’ creeping Tumblr and he doesn’t know what Harry’s doing but every once in a while, they’ll look up and make eye contact, smiling before they look back down.

Louis is going through his inbox when he sees a message from _hellocheshire_.

_Hi Lou :) .xx_

And Louis lets himself smile just slightly at the nickname.

 _what do u want from my life_ is what Louis answers but at this point, they’re friendly enough to banter. (Louis doesn’t know how to feel about this change)

Louis glances over at Harry who’s biting his bottom lip in concentration and his eyebrows are scrunched together.

Louis wants to reach over and push the stray curl over Harry’s forehead out of the way but instead settles for kicking Harry’s chair lightly. When Harry looks up, his face seems to smooth over into an easy expression.

“Yeah Lou?”

Louis smiles at the nickname and it causes this strange thick feeling in his chest because he’d just been smiling at _hellocheshire_ calling him Lou and it’s kind of weird now.

Louis shakes his head in attempt to clear his thoughts and instead looks over at Harry who’s watching him thoughtfully.

“Was just wondering if you’re alright Curly,” Louis says and he doesn’t know why it feels like a lie.

Harry nods at this with a small smile before looking down at his phone again and then he’s typing away. Louis doesn’t want to bother him so he refreshes his inbox again and there’s one new message but it isn’t from _hellocheshire_ and there’s a feeling of disappointment in his chest that shouldn’t be there.

He glances over at Harry who is still typing on his phone but then the curly haired boy looks up for a split second to meet Louis’ eyes and Louis thinks he sees a flicker of something unhappy. He hasn’t seen that look since the first day he met Harry when he was crying in the bathroom. Harry still has this small smile on his face as he looks down but it doesn’t seem real anymore and he can’t see Harry’s dimples.

He wants to ask whether Harry’s okay again but he doesn’t want to become something of a bother. He knows he hates it when someone keeps asking if he’s okay when he’s already answered them.

He looks away before Harry can look up and see the worried look on Louis’ face. He refreshes his inbox for nothing better to do.

There are two new asks from _hellocheshire._ Louis goes to read the first one, having to scroll through the second one, which is rather long.

_I need some advice, I think .x_

Louis’ eyebrows raise at this and he scrolls back up to the second ask which he discovers is a fanmail because it’s too long to be an ask.

_So I really like this guy and I think he likes me too. I don’t know. He’s pretty Lou. And so lovely. When he smiles, my heart skips a beat and when he laughs, my whole world stops. That’s cheesy, isn’t it? He makes me cheesy. He makes me want to be happy all the time. I don’t think he is though. He looks sad sometimes and I don’t know why. Someone as beautiful as him doesn’t deserve to be sad. I don’t think he’s been loved right. And the thing is I might be in love with him. But, there’s this thing he’s not telling me. It’s not really a secret because I’ve never asked—I didn’t want to bring it up. But I think he has a Tumblr, yeah? And if it’s him, I think he used to hate me on here. I can’t bear the thought of him hating me. I’ve cried just thinking about it. He doesn’t hate me in real life. Well at least I don’t think so. I think I might actually have a chance. But I don’t know what to do. What if he finds out who I am on Tumblr and then is upset with me for not telling him? I mean, he’s never asked either but I don’t think he has a clue it’s me. I just, I don’t know Lou. I just want him to be happy .xx_

Louis thinks he really shouldn’t be getting this emotional from _hellochesire_ ’s message but it’s happening. It’s mostly out of the fact he wishes someone would talk about him like this but let’s face it, Louis knows he’s worthless.

He sniffles once, rubbing his eyes and with his blurry vision he misses the sad look Harry gives him. He wipes his nose with his jumper—Harry’s jumper—before he starts to type.

_jeez you’re a sap harry. pull it together pal. i’m sure he’s as lovely as you say he is and maybe he is sad. there’s nothing wrong with being sad. i’m sad a lot. and idk why he’s sad but if you think it’s bc wasn’t loved right then ur probably more right than i could be by guessing. also, i’m sure he won’t hate you, i mean look at us !! i didn’t think we’d be friends but here we are. if you think you have a chance then take it and if the tumblr thing ever comes up, tell him. he might surprise you ! i’m sure you’ll make him happy bc anyone would lucky to have you, you ridiculous stupid cheesy sappy hipster. keep your head up and take a chance. never give up, never let anyone put you down. and if he does reject you, i promise to be here to listen to you cry, honest !_

He presses send and he hopes everything works out for Harry. He even crosses his fingers for good measure.

It’s only when he looks in front of him that he realizes he’d referred to _hellocheshire_ as Harry and that somehow, at some point he started caring for this stupid hipster a lot more than he should.

He looks up at the actual Harry who’s watching him closely again like he’s afraid Louis might break and Louis doesn’t know why but he feels like he’s at square one all over again.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Louis doesn’t mean for it to slip out but it does, slowly and carefully.

“You’re here, right?” Harry asks instead and he grabs his camera off the table, pointing it at Louis. He doesn’t press the button just yet.

“Yes,” Louis answers, nodding his head just in the slightest.

“Then I’m alright.”

The shutter goes off.

✿ ✿ ✿

Louis’ wearing just a jumper when Harry appears at his door, luggage in hand. He looks like he’s ready to face a blizzard and Louis can’t help the laugh that slips between his lips.

“What are you _wearing_?” Louis asks incredulously, standing up from his bed to look over Harry who’s clearly flushed from heat if his red cheeks are anything to go by.

“Liam said it would be cold!” Harry defends himself automatically, eyebrows scrunching together as he stares at Louis’ outfit which is just jeans and one of Harry’s jumper while he himself is wearing what looks like to be two coats.

“Liam’s going to _Canada_ ,” Louis reminds him and he’s laughing again as he walks closer to unbutton Harry’s coat for him.

Harry frowns for a second, lips turning down before his eyes widen in surprise. “Are you telling me, I’ve been dying of heat for the past thirty minutes for absolutely no reason?” Harry asks in disbelief, mouth falling open.

Louis is on the third button when he starts laughing again. “You call me slowpoke,” is all Louis replies, shaking his head and there are crinkles in the corners of his eyes as manages to undo the last button.

He was right and there’s another coat underneath and Louis can’t help it—he falls to the ground laughing and Harry looks down at him in surprise as he starts to roll around by Harry’s feet.

There are tears in his eyes when he finally manages to catch his breath and Harry looks affronted. Louis wants to kiss the look off his face but it’s also adorable so he doesn’t say anything but snort once more.

“Off,” Louis tells him as he motions towards Harry’s second coat, going to sit on the bed again and pull his laptop off its charger before packing them both in his bag.

By the time he’s done, Harry has managed to come down to just a sweater and he looks positively out of breath and it’s so endearing that Louis wants to coo.

“Ridiculous,” Louis mutters under his breath anyways but he says it fondly and he knows Harry hears it if the half-hearted glare is anything to go by.

Then Harry just shrugs and smiles, throwing his coats onto Zayn’s empty bed. Louis looks over with raised eyebrows as Harry flops down with an exaggerated sigh.

He clicks the home button on his phone to look at the time before turning back to Harry who’s now taking pictures of Louis and Zayn’s ceiling.

Louis doesn’t know where the hell the camera came from or what’s interesting about the ceiling but really, Louis doesn’t know about a lot of things so he doesn’t comment on that.

“You realize we have to be on the tube in twenty minutes?” Louis asks and he can’t stop the amusement from coloring his voice.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry says and he’s still taking pictures and Louis rolls his eyes before he crawls over his own bed to jump onto Harry who lets out a grunt in surprise.

“Get up, you lazy arse,” Louis instructs and Harry just laughs, his head falling back onto the bed.

“Make me,” Harry says and he grins up at Louis who thinks his knees would be going weak right about now if he were standing.

He really hates stupidly pretty boys like Harry.

“I’ll leave without you,” Louis threatens, standing up and he has to push up the sleeves of the jumper he’s wearing because they’re so incredibly long. Harry snickers at this and Louis shoots him a pointed look before walking towards the door where his luggage is.

He decides he needs to get a hearing aid because he definitely does not hear Harry get off the bed but he does feel Harry’s hand grabbing his hand.

“Don’t leave without me,” Harry says and he pouts but his eyes are twinkling. Louis really, _really_ hates stupidly pretty boys like Harry.

Louis just sighs fondly and shakes his hand out of Harry’s grip to grab his things. Once he’s done swinging his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his luggage with his right hand before he turns to Harry who’s holding his hand out.

Louis looks at it in question and there’s a tattoo on the inside of Harry’s wrist that says _I can’t change_ and Louis thinks _don’t ever change_.

(He’s pretty sure he saw a GIF set from that show Supernatural where the Dean guy says that to the angel guy Castiel or whatever and, like, he looked like he was sort of in love. Louis wonders if that’s what he looks like when he looks up to meet Harry’s eyes)

“I might get lost,” Harry tells him and Louis can _see_ the way he’s biting back a grin. Louis shouldn’t be as enamored as he is.

He makes a show of rolling his eyes but in the end he does reach out and tangle their fingers together. “You’re the most irritating person I know,” Louis tells him but anyone would be stupid to miss the fond way he said it.

“You adore me,” Harry says and he squeezes Louis’ hand before he starts tugging him through the door and Louis has no choice but to follow, making sure to shut the door behind him.

Louis scoffs at Harry’s statement but denies nothing as he pulls out his phone to check the time while they walk down the hallway, with Harry swinging their hands and grinning like an absolute idiot.

 _He is an idiot_ , Louis reasons in his mind.

Harry doesn’t seem to be upset anymore like he was the day they were in the library. He’s back to his cheeky, stupidly endearing self. But Louis knows acting better than anyone.

While it has been nearly four months since he first met Harry, he doesn’t think he knows him well enough to judge whether or not he’s just acting happy.

He watches him carefully though with his mind running through the psychology class he took once on a whim. Louis even mentions it to Zayn in the passing and the tanner boy just laughs and tells him not to worry about it.

The thing is that Harry has everyone wrapped around his finger. Although Zayn had initially resisted, even he warmed up to the curly haired boy after a matter of time.

Another thing would be that Zayn and Liam are dating. Louis called it from the second he met Liam. He went and told Zayn that he and Liam would fall madly in love with each other and while he’s happy for them, he’s incredibly jealous at the same time.

It just seems so easy for them, the way they fall together.

Louis has also come to the conclusion that he’s going to forever alone with seven cats like everyone else on Tumblr, but what else is new?

Bringing up Tumblr, apparently things with _hellocheshire_ are going well and that Louis makes happy. It also reminds him that everyone around him is falling in love while he’s sitting here trying to make sure this stupid curly haired boy doesn’t steal his heart.

His ask is constantly filled with updates and it’s actually quite possibly the cutest thing _ever_. It’s clear how smitten _hellocheshire_ is with this boy he likes and Louis will repeat this one more time: _Where is Louis' hipster to make ridiculous text posts about his eyes and how they've been waiting for him. It's just not fair._ Still, Louis smiles just reading the asks.

_Lou, he’s so cute, help :( .x_

_I just want to keep him in my pocket… that’d be siiiiick._

_He keeps stealing my jumpers.. That’s a good thing, right?_

_Louisssssssss, he’s wearing his glasses and I think I might die. He looks so cute :( .x_

_He wants to spend the holiday together because I’ll be lonely, I think I’m going to explode from how he wants to make everyone else happy._

_I still want to suck your dick._

_THAT WAS NICK, I SWEAR! .x_

_Louis, I want to take a million pictures of him. I want to keep him forever. Is it kidnapping if he’s older than me?_

_Louis, he keeps smiling at me, I think I’m going to die._

_No. Really. He’s like the sun and I think I’ve burnt myself .x_

_Is there a medical term for this._

_Louis. Dead. D e a d. I’m dead. He killed me .xx_

He replied to the last one saying, _kinky shit u got goin on there mate xx (also the term is fangirling jfc harry ur like a teenage girl)_

He got a _You’re not funny._ followed by _Okkk, yeah you are._ and he hasn’t stopped smiling since. When Harry asked what he was smiling at, he just shook his head and he thinks Harry might have laughed at him.

But right now, it’s nearly his birthday, there’s a pretty boy by his side holding his hand and he’s going home. He thinks things are better than they’ve ever been.

✿ ✿ ✿

“Harry, you have _all_ week to take pictures. I’m freezing my arse off here so can we please actually go my house before my mum has a panic attack and ends up calling the navy to get me out of the tube?” Louis asks, shifting between his legs in attempt to get warm. He’s kidding but Harry looks over with wide eyes, his finger stilling where it’s paused on the shutter button. Then he smirks as he stands up from where he’s crouched and Louis thinks his limbs turn to jelly.

“And you made fun of _me_ for wearing two jackets,” Harry accuses but he slips the strap of his camera around his neck. Then he reaches into his bag and pulls out a pair of familiar gloves and Louis could kiss him, honestly.

Louis sticks his tongue out at Harry before taking the gloves from Harry’s hands. He puts them on and wiggles his fingers to test them though he already knows they’ll be too big for him as usual.

Then he grabs Harry’s hand himself (he doesn’t notice the way Harry’s entire face lights up at that) and starts to tug him towards the main road where they can get a cab. When they do manage to get a cab, Harry stops outside to take a picture and Louis doesn’t let go off his hand even though he does let out an exaggerated sigh to which Harry flips him off.

All in all when they get to the address that is Louis’ childhood home, the cab driver wishes him and his boyfriend happy holidays and Louis’ just thankful Harry is outside of the cab at this point as Louis pays.

“Thanks,” Louis mutters and offers the man a smile before getting out of the cab as well and joining Harry in the back to get their luggage.

In a few minutes they’re standing in front of Louis’ doorstep and Harry presses the doorbell since Louis’ too nervous to do it. It’s been months since he’s last seen his family and he may have sort of not told his family he was even coming.

The door opens and there are two identical looking blondes staring up at him and then there’s screaming.

“ _Louis!_ ” They both scream at once and they pounce on him. The only thing that keeps him from falling backwards is the steady hand on his back.

“Did you just say Lou-“ An older girl with darker hair asks before she looks up and catches sight of Louis who’s struggling to wrap both his arms around Daisy and Phoebe while there are bags in his hands.

Then she catches sight of the curly haired boy next to him and both her eyebrows shoot into her hairline. “You—uh. Okay. Lottie’s going to kill you. So is mum.” Then she turns to Harry and holds out her hand for a handshake.

“Felicite,” She says and Harry smiles charmingly at her, dimples appearing and he thinks his sister is slightly impressed if the way she’s looking at Louis with a smirk is anything to go by.

“Harry.” He reaches out to shake her hand and another girl appears at the door just as the twins let go of him.

“Felicite, why were the twins yelling Louis’ na-“ Lottie looks up and when she sees Louis she squeals. “ _Louis!”_ She goes to hug him tightly before pulling back eyes wide and mouth agape. “You _twat_. You didn’t even _tell_ me,” She accuses and she punches him in the arm.

Then she notices Harry who’s watching the whole ordeal with amused eyes and she opens and closes her mouth once. Then twice.

“You’re—oh my God, you’re _Grimmy_ ’s hipster friend!” Then she turns to Louis accusingly again. “You know Nick Grimshaw and you didn’t _tell_ me that either? Are you serious?”

Louis squints at Lottie who’s still staring at Harry in disbelief from the corner of her eye. “Who the hell is Nick? And what kind of welcoming is this? Are you guys really making Harry and I stand at the door when it’s _freezing_ outside?”

And then there’s someone else walking towards the door, smelling of what Louis recognizes as _home_. “Girls, what are you—Louis?”

His mother’s face is one of shock and then her eyes move to Harry and she quickly covers it up with a bright smile. “What are you doing standing out there? You’re gonna catch a cold!” She ushers the girls out of the way who all protest as she beckons Louis and Harry in.

She wipes her hands on her apron before smiling at Harry who smiles back. “Nice to meet you Mrs. Tomlinson,” Harry says and Louis thinks maybe the dimples do come in hand.

“Oh dear, call me Jay. You must be Louis’—“ Jay starts only for Louis to cut her off quickly.

“Harry. This is Harry. He’s my friend.” He gives her and the girls a pointed look. Felicite snickers while Lottie looks like she’s still about to punch him.

Jay furrows her eyebrows but nods. “Right, Harry, your friend. It’s a pleasure to have you dear. The twins will show you to the guest room. I need to talk to Louis, I hope you don’t mind.”

Harry shakes his head. “Of course not Mrs. Tomli—I mean Jay.” He smiles winningly at her before he bends down to where the twins are standing and looks at them both over. He points to the one with a blue hair tie and says, “Phoebe,” then points to the one with the green hair tie and says, “Daisy,” with a triumphant grin on his face the whole time.

Both girls widen their eyes before nodding fiercely and then they’re hugging Harry and Louis can only watch with disbelieving eyes. How does Harry _do_ that?

His mother’s also watching and her lip twitches as she holds in her smile. “Come on boo, let’s go talk in the kitchen.”

Louis spares one last glance at Harry who’s stilling hugging the twins and he notices both Felicite and Lottie have disappeared. He sighs, ducking his head before following his mother reluctantly.

✿ ✿ ✿

After explaining the whole story to his mother who ends up crying when he tells her how happy he is, he creeps up to the guest room where Harry should be.

When he’s close enough he starts to make out Lottie’s voice along with the twins’ giggling. “—practically famous. Your pictures are _amazing_.”

He hears Harry laugh and it makes his chest tighten. “Not famous at all but thank you! And yeah, I’ll follow—“ There’s a scream which is one of the twins and Louis jumps up in shock, missing the rest of Harry’s sentence before there’s giggling again.

He manages to catch the end though, right before he pushes the door open. “—doesn’t even know.”

The door creaks as he enters and he’s expecting something like the apocalypse with all the screaming the twins were doing but instead he finds Harry sitting on the guest bed with different colored hair ties in his hair and a headband pushing back his curls.

Louis couldn’t not laugh even if he wanted too because the image is just ridiculous. He can feel his eyes crinkling in the corners and Harry looks up at him with a large grin.

“Do I look pretty _Boobear_?” Harry asks sweetly and Louis’ mouth falls open just slightly. He turns to glare at all his sisters who are laughing. Lottie is sitting in the chair across from the only desk in the room while Felicite is sat on the beanbag in the corner of the room and the twins are sitting behind Harry with more hair ties in the hands.

“Which one of them told you?” Louis asks instead, choosing to ignore Harry’s question because when _doesn’t_ Harry look pretty?

Harry puts his hand to his mouth and makes a zipping motion but his dimples are prominent and Louis realizes he’s in love with this stupid lovely boy.

Fuck.

Louis holds his breath and he expects the world to come crashing down but nothing happens. Harry’s still smiling and Felicite is smirking at him like she knows and Lottie is watching the whole ordeal with careful eyes and the twins are pulling at Harry’s hair.

Then there’s a pause followed by Harry looking up at Louis who’s still considering whether he’s actually losing his mind. He’s not supposed to be in love. It’s never worked out for him so why would it work out this time?

Harry frowns slightly, eyebrows furrowing. “Are you okay Lou?” He asks, tilting his head, waiting for Louis’ response.

Louis just barely manages to mutely nod before he turns around and leaves the room. He doesn’t hear Harry call after him because he’s not listening. He’s too busy rushing down the stairs and grabbing his coat off the rack before exiting the house, walking further and further away.

The thing is he’s not running from Harry.

He just needs to figure this out, whatever this is. His feelings and all that shit. He needs to breathe and he needs to do it without Harry staring at him with wide green, trusting eyes.

Louis ends up at a park he used to go to frequently as a child and it still looks the exact same. It’s deserted but considering it’s the day before Christmas Eve, he’s not surprised.

He sits down on a bench and then waits two whole minutes before he screams once loudly into the empty playground.

There’s no one to hear him scream and there’s no one for him to let his frustration out on. His teeth are chattering and his hands are shaking from the lack of gloves. He thinks that’s a perfect metaphor for his life.

Even while he can’t feel his hands, he takes his phone out of his pocket anyways and he goes straight to the Tumblr app.

He ends up in _hellocheshire_ ’s ask and he’s sending the question because he just needs someone, someone to hold onto when everything feels like it’s spinning out of control.

_how did you know you were in love ?_

Louis runs a hand through his hair, messing up the fringe further but he can’t bring himself to care as he bounces his right leg up and down in anticipation.

His phone buzzes and Louis instantly picks it up and when he sees a text from Harry, he sighs—all long and drawn out.

Instead he refreshes his inbox and when he sees _hellocheshire_ there, he nearly cries in relief.

_I don’t know… It just kind of happened. You sort of just know. You look at that person and think there’s nowhere else you’d rather be except by their side, holding their hand. And it’s just like, looking at them can make you happy. They can smile and you’ll feel like it’s the best thing you could ever have. Their happiness makes you happy. And they mean everything to you. The sun, the stars, the moon and everything in between. And at the end of the day, you just want them to know you’d do anything for them because you would. Why, is little ole’ Louis in love? .xx_

The ask makes him want to squirm in his seat because that’s exactly how he feels about Harry and this is _Harry_ that they’re talking about. Harry with the bright, bright eyes and the pretty dimpled smile. Harry who will take pictures of Louis laughing for no reason other than that he thinks Louis looks nice laughing. Harry who lends him jumpers left and right and never asks for them back. Harry who always has a smear of flour on his cheek and an apron around his waist, greeting him with red velvet cupcakes because he knows they’re Louis’ favorite. Harry who cuddles with him when he’s feeling sad. Harry who laughs loudly and takes stupid pictures of Louis’ ceiling. Harry who goes on study dates with him even when he doesn’t need to study. Harry who cried in the bathroom the first night they met. Harry who smiles at him Mona Lisa-like. Harry who he’s in love with.

Louis looks down at the message and sends _hellocheshire_ a second ask before he tries to delude himself into thinking he’s not in love.

_um yeah i guess i am.. i think im gonna tell him too tho idk have u told ur guy yet? bc u should and i guess i should too sigh i always spend too much time being scared but i think now that i realize it i’ll tell him. i just hope i don’t lose him.. thanks for helping harry xx_

Louis stands up and takes a deep breath, remembering to _inhale (harry) exhale (harry) inhale (harry) exhale (harry)_. He’s about to turn around when he bumps into someone. He goes to apologize when he hears the other person say, “Oops.”

Louis’ head immediately shoots up and he looks into green eyes that are clouded over with worry and what looks like a tint of anxiety. The boy in front of him has this look on his face that Louis has seen before, the careful one where he seems to think Louis is breakable.

“Hi,” Louis whispers and Harry smiles slowly, like he’s not sure if he’s supposed to. Louis thinks Harry looks best when he smiles so he reaches up to poke the small dimple in Harry’s cheek before Harry’s smile is full blown.

“Hello,” Harry murmurs then he reaches up to push Louis’ hair away from where it’s falling into his eyes. “You ran back there. Kind of scared me.”

Louis shivers as Harry’s breath hits his face before he nods slowly. “I know. I’m sorry,”

Harry’s fingers move from Louis’ forehead to cup his jaw, thumb brushing against Louis’ cheek. “Nothing to be sorry for,” Harry replies and his eyes are soft.

“Except for the fact that I’m in love with you?” Louis asks without thinking and he’s scared, he’s fucking _terrified_ but Harry’s not moving and his eyes seem to get even softer.

“Don’t be sorry for that. Don’t ever be sorry for that. If you’re sorry for that, then I might have to be sorry for this,” Harry tells him and Louis doesn’t have time to ask when he means before there are soft lips pressing against his.

Louis parts his lips in surprise and Harry moves closer; his other hand holding on to Louis’ hip and Louis can taste Harry on his tongue.

He tastes of peppermint and vanilla and Louis feels dizzy but his hands are clutching the fabric on Harry’s chest and he’s kissing back.

Louis’ eyes flutter closed just as Harry pulls back. He doesn’t open them because he’s afraid of what he might see. Afraid Harry will disappear.

“Louis,” Harry murmurs and Louis shakes his head, keeping his eyes firmly shut. His grasp on Harry’s shirt tightens until they’re balls of fabric in his fist.

“Louis,” Harry repeats and for a second time Louis doesn’t open his eyes. He can hear Harry’s sigh and it sounds like one of endearment.

“Louis,” Harry repeats again and Louis stays put. He feels something wet fall against his wrist but he still doesn’t open his eyes. He hears Harry chuckle then there are lips pressed against the shell of his ear followed by, “If it wasn’t obvious I’m in love with you too.”

Louis lets out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in before he mutters, “Fuck,” and lets his forehead drop against Harry’s shoulder. Harry moves closer and wraps both his arms around Louis’ waist and Louis doesn’t let himself think but just breathes slowly; _inhale (harry) exhale (harry) inhale (harry) exhale (harry)_.

He can feel Harry’s heartbeat against his hands, where they’re still pressed to Harry’s chest and he wonders if it goes _thumpthumpthumplouis_. He thinks it might.

“Louis, are you alright?” Harry asks softly against the crown of Louis’ head and Louis doesn’t know what to do so he lets his hands drop from where they’re caught between them to wrap around Harry’s middle instead. He comes to the realization it’s snowing when he feels more wetness against his skin.

“Do you want to know something?” Harry asks instead when he realizes Louis isn’t going to say anything. Louis’ eyes are still closed but he nods against Harry’s shoulder slowly.

“The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen and that I just needed to take a picture. I was too scared to ask. You were just sitting there under the tree in front of our dorm with Zayn and you were laughing. Just laughing. You seemed so happy and that’s what made you most beautiful. I was just staring at you ridiculously and I was holding my camera in my hand and I squeezed, accidentally pressing down on the shutter button. And in that moment, I thought maybe love at first sight did exist because I’d never been so captured by anyone like I was with you.”

Harry stops talking and he says nothing more. Louis smiles at Harry’s words at first but then it slowly starts to sink in what Harry’s actually saying. Louis’ speechless at this point because he can’t quite wrap his mind around what Harry’s telling him.

Louis opens his eyes and pulls back to stare at Harry in disbelief. Harry who’s biting his lip while staring at Louis with eyes full of sadness and it occurs to him, he’s the one making Harry look like that.

“You’re—you’re _hellocheshire_ ,” is all Louis can think to splutter and a snowflake lands on his eyelashes before sliding down to his cheek. Harry reaches up, his thumb carefully swiping the remains away.

“And you’re _doncastersfinest_ ,” Harry says, smiling sadly and there’s snowflakes in his hair, melting within seconds.

“You—“ Louis cuts himself off, eyes widening as a thought occurs to him. “That day we met, in the bathroom—were you crying because of me?” Louis asks and he feels horrified because this bright, bright boy in front of him doesn’t deserve to ever be unhappy, especially because of Louis’ inconsiderate words.

Harry doesn’t reply, instead wiping away another snowflake on Louis’ face. The silence only confirms the answer Harry won’t give.

Louis is actually about to hit himself because how could he be so _stupid_ as to not see the signs. They were all there, right in front of his face.

They’re both silent for a while as Louis tries to absorb fact that his Harry and _hellocheshire_ Harry are the same people.

Harry is the one to break the silence. “Do you hate me?” Harry asks quietly and he’s looking at the ground with an expression that makes Louis want to crawl under a rock. Louis remembers the ask he got from Harry about thinking that the person he liked would hate him and Louis has decided he is _seriously_ the biggest asshole on the planet for letting Harry think Louis could ever hate him.

“Fuck,” Louis mutters quietly before shaking his head quickly. “No, fuck, of course not. Never. I—I’m so _sorry_ , I didn’t—fuck.  No. I—I don’t think I could—“ He shakes his head again. “No, I’m—I’m still in love with you. I’m so stupid—I’m so sorry, Christ, I had no idea Harry.”

“It’s fine,” Harry says quietly and Louis _hates_ how somber his voice sounds. He absolutely hates it and he hates himself even more for being the reason Harry’s voice sounds like that.

“No—no, it’s not. I—fuck, I had no idea. I never—I never _really_ hated you. I just—you called me beautiful and you didn’t know anything about me. I just—what I did was completely irrational, okay? I know that I’m literally—fuck. How could I hate you, you should hate me—“

“Louis, shut up,” Harry says, cutting him off and his longer fingers reach down to tangle with Louis’ smaller ones. “You don’t even know, do you?”

Harry looks up, meeting Louis’ gaze with a fierce determination and Louis blinks through the snow on his eyelashes to keep eye contact with him.

“Know what?” Louis asks, curiosity getting the better of him and he figures he’s not doing himself any favors by opening his mouth.

“Louis, you’re—you’re perfect. You’re literally the fucking sun. You’re so bright and beautiful and just _stunning_. I look at you and all I can think is _wow, he’s real, he’s a real person_ because it’s honestly so difficult to even believe. And I know I’m a sap but can you blame me? You’re just so wonderful and it has to be impossible not to fall in love with you. I was a goner from day one. When we met in the bathroom all I could think was that I was finally getting the chance to meet the boy with the beautiful smile. At the same time, I was a mess and I didn’t want you to have a bad impression of me. I remember your hair was ruffled messily and your eyes were bleary. You looked so small and lovely. I was an absolute mess. I didn’t want you to have a bad impression of me—all I wanted was for you to like me. I mean, you’re so brilliant and I’m just _me_.”

Harry frowns at this point and Louis’ just staring at him incredulously. He can’t even open his mouth to say anything because he’s so overwhelmed by the rush of affection he feels for this ridiculous boy.

Louis unwraps his free arm from Harry’s middle to reach up and poke his cheek again, waiting for the dimple to appear because he can’t stand even the idea of Harry frowning, much less it becoming a reality.

Harry’s eyes flicker down to Louis’ hand before he starts to smile slowly but surely and there’s a Mona Lisa look in his eyes.

“You’re always trying to make others happy. Even on Tumblr, your goal is to make others laugh. But what about you? Don’t you deserve to smile and laugh too, Lou?” Harry asks softly and he reaches up to wipe away a drop of water on Louis’ bottom lip from the melted snow.

Louis stays silent, thinking about how he was right that someone like Harry could break him so easily. But someone like Harry could also put him back together just as easily.

The thing is, Louis feels like a puzzle and all his pieces are placed wrong, crooked. There’s something so obviously missing, so many pieces people have taken with them.

Harry is everything Louis is not—hopeful, trusting, open and accepting. And Harry’s settled right in the middle of Louis’ heart and he’s becoming a permanent fixture.

Harry is Louis’ missing puzzle pieces, he just _fits_ with Louis. All he wants is to be the reason for Louis’ smile and all Louis’ been looking for is a reason to smile.

Harry’s dangerously beyond Louis’ limit. He’s like a tornado. He came and broke down all of Louis’ walls, sending them tumbling down along with all his defenses. 

Louis has never been strong. And he’s always been even weaker when it came to pretty boys with nice smiles. So when Harry appeared, he swept Louis off his feet—literally at one point and Louis fell. He fell but Harry still managed to catch him.

Finally Louis looks up, biting down on his bottom lip where he can still feel a tingling sensation before asking, “How long did you know?”

Harry stares at him in confusion, eyebrows drawn together before Louis clarifies, “That I was _doncastersfinest_. How long did you know?”

“Oh,” Harry says then his eyebrows scrunch up and he makes this adorable face as he tries to remember. Louis wants to kiss him and he thinks that maybe he’s actually allowed to. Maybe not right now but in ten minutes, twenty, even an hour.

He realizes he’s been staring at Harry’s lips for a while when Harry starts to talk again. “Probably after the second time we met in the bathroom after the we officially met in the coffee shop.  A few hours later you went back on Tumblr and posted something about falling in love with people in coffee shops. That’s when I thought, _maybe_ it was you. Then I started looking into it and stuff and everything sort of just clicked. I mean, I already knew tidbits of your personality from your blog and when I met you in real life, you were the same I guess. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.” Harry pauses then and he smiles, a real smile and he pokes Louis in the stomach with his free hand. “It took you a while though, slowpoke.”

“So _that’s_ why you called me that,” Louis realizes then blushes when he sees the way Harry’s grinning down at him.

“Slowpoke,” Harry repeats with an amused expression at Louis’ own disgruntled one.

“I hate you,” Louis mutters, pouting and then realizing what he said he looks up in distraught. “I didn’t mean that.”

Harry’s smile widens even further, dimples sinking into his cheeks. “Yeah, I know.”

“I love you,” Louis says just to say it because now he _can_ and he _does_ love Harry. He loves him so much it’s threatening to take him over completely.

Harry’s eyes light up and Louis doesn’t know why Harry keeps talking about how bright Louis is when Harry himself has stars in his eyes.

“Oh really?” Harry asks and it’s clear that he’s teasing as he squeezes Louis’ hand where it’s still held in his own.

Louis feels his lips twitch in attempt to smile but he manages to restrain himself and keep a straight face. “Yeah, really.”

“Okay,” Harry says, and then he follows with, “I love you too.”

Louis can’t help it this time and he starts to smile back because Harry’s smile is just infectious. Louis honestly had no chance of not falling when it came to this boy.

Then Louis uses the hand not held by Harry punch the taller boy in the arm. “I can’t _believe_ you knew this whole time that I was _doncastersfinest_ and didn’t tell me, you twat. That’s not fair! When I made posts tagged as curly headed shit, you weren’t supposed to actually _see_ them,” Louis tells him, pouting.

Harry starts to laugh, head thrown back and before Louis knows it, he’s grinning so hard that his cheeks start to strain in protest.

Snow is melting on Harry’s tongue and before Louis knows what he’s doing, he’s standing on his tip toes and slotting his lips between Harry’s.

Harry’s initial reaction is to freeze, before Louis feels him smile against Louis’ lips and he’s bending down so Louis only has to reach halfway to kiss him.

It’s absolutely freezing and Louis’ starting to lose feeling in his fingers but he doesn’t move. He thinks this is a scene out of a ridiculous romance novel and that’s sort of what his life has turned into.

When he hears a shutter go off, he startles back and looks at Harry questioningly. Harry raises his own eyebrows and shrugs his shoulders.

“Can you say highway to Tumblr famous. I can see it now; _hellocheshire_ _and doncastersfinest sharing their first kiss on camera—who needs to kiss in the rain when they can kiss in the snow_?”

Louis starts at the voice and he turns his head to see Lottie smirking with one of Harry’s cameras in her hand. Behind her, Felicite is giggling.

He doesn’t know what to say at first but then settles for, “You _knew_?” in an incredulous fashion.

Lottie laughs at him and Louis turns to look at Harry who’s smiling but holds his hands up in defense when he sees Louis’ exasperated glare turned towards him.

“Louis, he’s best friends with Nick Grimshaw. How could I _not_ know?” Lottie asks, then rolls her eyes and turns to whisper something to Felicite, who laughs in return.

“Who?” Louis asks, turning back to his sisters and he’s not sure who he’s even asking. He vaguely recalls getting inappropriate asks from Harry, which were blamed on some Nick and he wonders if they’re the same people.

“Louis, it’s the bloke on Radio 1 in the mornings. _Come on_. On Grimmy’s Tumblr there are tons of pictures of him with Harry. I mean the second I saw him, I recognized him. Felicite did too actually. Why else would we be so shocked? I mean, you’re supposedly in this huge Tumblr war thing with him and then you bring him _home_. Like, what?” Lottie shakes her head as if the whole thing is preposterous and Louis realizes it kind of is when you put it like that.

“I’m so done,” Louis mutters and holds his free hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples and Harry laughs beside him.

“Well, on the bright side, it seems being Tumblr famous runs in the family?” Harry offers and Louis laughs because the joke is so dumb but it’s so cute and so _Harry_.

“No, seriously. Can I post this? Will you reblog it?” Lottie asks, eyes widening at the prospect and she’s grinning, bright eyed.

Louis opens his mouth then closes it before turning to Harry, who’s just staring at Louis fondly and still holding Louis’ hand tightly, like he doesn’t plan on ever letting go.

“I don’t mind,” Harry answers, but he’s still looking at Louis while smiling and Louis hears Lottie make a gag noise followed by matching giggling. He debates flipping his sisters the bird but he figures that’s probably inappropriate.

“Yeah, me neith-“

There’s another sound of a shutter going off and then the girls are laughing loudly before running off in the direction of the house. Louis opens his mouth to call them back but then Harry’s tugging on his hand lightly, pulling him closer until they’re face to face.

“You know what this means, right?” Harry asks and his eyes are lighting up in excitement and Louis gives him a questioning smile before shaking his head.

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Louis tells him and it occurs to him, they should probably go inside soon because he’s starting to shiver.

“We’re going to be that Tumblr couple everyone knows, Lou,” Harry says and he looks so _smug_ about it that Louis snorts.

“Are we now?” Louis intones sarcastically but he’s smiling so wide that his eyes are crinkling so he thinks Harry can handle his banter.

“Yes, we are. Now let’s go. I’d rather like to see Tumblr have a meltdown because of us.” Then Harry’s tugging his hand again and Louis laughs but follows him anyways.

✿ ✿ ✿

 ** _hellocheshire_** :

 **_doncastersfinest_ ** **:**

_so… lourry is real i guess oops_

_Hiiii._

✿ ✿ ✿

 **_ratchetlarry_ ** _: IT DSOJSOIFDJSI AIT ODLK YI TOLDA NDUIFN SLDA+DOdskds?wfslfoejge_

 **_doncasterchapel_ ** _: lmfao everybody who thought lourry was fake can suck my dick now_

 **_ilocklarry_ ** _: larry is real h a ha HASHAHDAHDHAAHAHAHHA_

 **_poeticharry:_ ** _does this mean I can read lourry smut now without feeling bad_

 **_yrruol_ ** _: asodnaKDNO13K`[1/2`/2/             /              W/.adojOD_

 **_softyharry_ ** _: friendly reminder I told you all like three months ago larry would happen._

 **_louiscrinkles:_ ** _now Louis has someone to make him smile :)_

 **_oopsandhi_ ** _: THEYBRE TOGETHETENR? <EG SFN THEY’VE EMT THEY”RE DAITNIGN_

 **_weloveharry1dx_ ** _: ICNT BREHSTE HLP I KNEW ITNF_

 **_supportinglourry_ ** _: wait what happened_

✿ ✿ ✿

Louis’ never had a happy ending but he thinks that this is pretty fucking close.

His mornings start off with running into Harry in the bathroom where they both smile blearily at each other and go about their business. They’ll kiss once after brushing their teeth and they won’t stop until one of them realizes they _really_ need to get to their classes.

Then at some point where it’s actually bright enough to consider morning, Louis will do his daily blogging and smile at the asks he gets about Harry before falling back asleep within an hour.

When he wakes up, he blogs some more before he finally gets the energy to go on his cupcake run. He’ll get there and Harry will be waiting with his camera and a cupcake.

They’ll walk back to their dorm and they’ll sit there and have a study date, which isn’t really studying at all, more of Harry taking pictures of Louis and posting them onto Tumblr, and Louis making text posts about how ridiculous Harry is.

Sometimes they’ll go on a date, sometimes they’ll hang out with all the boys. Sometimes they’ll do nothing and just end up falling asleep together.

They have this routine and it’s the best thing Louis’ ever had. At the end of the night, right before he falls asleep, he can think he’s in love with someone and for the first time not worry whether they love him back or not.

For lack of better wording, his boyfriend stares at him with Mona Lisa eyes and that’s all Louis’ ever really wanted.

✿ ✿ ✿

 ** _doncastersfinest_** :

 **_hellocheshire_ ** **:**

_Oh my, my, they could never shut us down._

_no Harry, I will not let you top tonight._

**Author's Note:**

> This was honestly just an excuse to put as many things as I could into one fic- bakery au, coffee shop au, uni (drama and photography) au, tumblr au, insecure!louis, cupcake!harry, they're both sort of famous (tumblr famous but same thing right?), zouis friendship, ziam, eleanor working in a coffee shop, bathroom meeting (oops and hi!), mentions of punk!direction amongst other things. This was just really unhealthy, is what it was.
> 
>  
> 
> You can reach me at [@deepestIove](http://twitter.com/deepestIove/) for twitter and my tumblr is [lourrynavy](http://lourrynavy.tumblr.com/) :)


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